You Saved Me
by westsalleniris
Summary: Fic for what happens after 5x09, trying to fix the mess that was that finale. How Fitz and Liv work out being alone, and then eventually how they find their way back to each other.
1. Chapter 1

"Hello?"

A pause.

"H—Hi." She said it an almost a whisper.

"Liv? Did you get a new number?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but we—I mean OPA—had to get new phones. Somebody was trying to hack our system…"

"That's not why you called," Fitz said, hearing the pain in her voice.

"I just. I'm in a bad place, and I just wanted to hear your voice. That's all. Okay I'll hang up now." It took everything for Olivia to hold it in.

"Liv, wait. Are you going to be okay?"

"No. But I'm done putting my problems on you. It's what made us… Look I just…" She laughed. "You're normally the one that calls first."

"You can always call me, Livvie. No matter where we are, you can always call. I'll always pick up for you."

"I know." He could hear the smile in her voice. They were silent for a while.

"I'm sorry, I… I'm going to hang up now," she whispered.

"Liv, I don't want to hang up with you in a bad place. I don't… I don't know whats going on in your life any more. Are you in danger?"

"I've done a lot of bad things, Fitz."

"Liv…"

"But it all means nothing as long as I keep those bad things from impacting you. So I'm not going to tell you. Now go… Go be president. And maybe when you finish in 10 months, maybe then we'll talk."

Fitz sighed. "Bye Liv. Be safe. I'll see you tomorrow." And he hung up.

"Bye, Fitz," she whispered into her dark apartment.

 **The Next Evening**

Olivia sat in her chair in hair and makeup. Even after living in the White House for a couple of months it was still weird, having someone straighten her hair and do her makeup for her, something she'd done by herself all those years. Abby came in, and waited until Olivia's aid had left the room.

"Thanks for doing this. I know its awkward, but well, you kinda put yourself in this position with him, so, suck it up."

"Abby," Olivia warned. "We had a fight. I moved out. This isn't awkward. This is keeping Fitz on track for these last painful 10 months of his term. I don't need to suck it up. This is just how it is."

Abby looked at Olivia. She shook her head.

"What?" Olivia asked defensively.

"Look, you're my best friend. And I used to work for you."

"And now you work for him," she reminded Abby.

"Oh, Liv. What happened? You were… you still are in love with him. I see it in your eyes. I know you too well." Olivia looked away.

"It's not something I discuss."

"Don't _give_ me that Liv! You had him. You had _it._ And you just.. what? Put it down, cause you couldn't deal with work that you don't want to do. Well guess what, Liv. You gotta give some to get some!" Tears started to form in Abby's eyes.

"Abby… I tried. I really did."

"No you didn't."

"Don't tell me what I did and didn't do! I wanted him and me to be together. But—"

"See, there it is! There's always a "but" with you. You didn't try. You call that trying, Liv? That's you and him forcing each other into boxes because you finally get to be together, but wait, something bad is bound to happen because something bad is happening with us, so let's release my father that killed the man that I love's son to fix all my problems and lets move Olivia into the White House against her will so that she doesn't do anything wrong again. Lets lie, let's keep secrets, and, oh! here's another good idea. I'm going to get—" Abby lowered her voice for the sake of the content. "an abortion and kill _another_ one of Fitz's kids without him being able to stop it." Olivia gasped. She was speechless for a second.

"Abigale Wheland, don't you dare, ever, speak of that again. I don't know how you know, but you have no right to use that against me. _That_ is something I don't discuss."

"I covered it up."

"What?"

"I know because I checked in with your secret service detail and they told me everything I needed them to know. But they won't talk. It was just two guys anyways. And the doctor that did the procedure, that flipped the switch, she's not about to talk either. She signed a contract. You have an alibi, Huck, Quinn and that new guy will obviously cover for you, say you were working on a case or something instead of being at that dinner. The hospital has no record of you being there."

"Abby, you didn't have to do that. That wasn't needed."

"He's never going to find out now."

"He doesn't need to. It wasn't… We're _not_ talking about this." Olivia got up and left.

 **Two Hours Later**

"Are they back together?" Cyrus asked Abby, as the two of them watched from the sidelines. The state dinner was going as smoothly as ever, and although there were many couples around them, the attention was all on POTUS and his First Girlfriend.

Abby stared at Olivia, furious with the way their previous conversation had gone. She at first didn't hear his question. "What? No. Why would you say something like that? They're fighting, Cy. It's bad."

"Come on. They are completely natural around each other. It isn't tense at all."

"That's because you're used to Fitz and Mellie. This is different. They don't have to act in love. They just have to pretend that they are getting along."

 **Three Days Later**

Abby reached for her phone at the bottom of her bag just as it stopped ringing. "Crap," she muttered, seeing who's call she had just missed. She tried calling back, but they didn't pick up. Her mind was preocupied the entire day, wanting to talk to the person. Instead of going to Leo's like she normally did, she drove down the once familiar streets to where she knew Olivia would be. She pulled out her spare key and took the elevator up.

"What are you doing here?" Quinn said, the second she stepped off the elevator.

"Let her in," Huck called from the couch.

"What? Why?" Huck gave Quinn a significant look as Abby passed bye, giving him a smile.

"We can deal with Liv. She doesn't need to come in here, acting like she still runs the place… Liv is our problem!" Quinn protested.

Abby threw open the door to Olivia's office, not caring that Marcus was in there talking to her.

"Get out," Abby said addressing him.

"Abby!" Olivia said.

"Sorry. Could you please leave? I have to talk to your boss," Abby restated.

"Um, we're kinda busy," Marcus protested.

"Not as busy as I am. Now can you leave?" Marcus turned to Olivia in protest.

"Give us a minute, please." Marcus threw up his hands, but left.

"Why did you call?"

"You came all the way down here to ask me that? Look, it's nothing."

"Then why didn't you pick up when I called you back?"

"Because I shouldn't of called. I… there wasn't a reason."

"There's always a reason with you." Abby sat down on the couch next to her friend, taking her coat off and setting her bag down. "What is it?" she asked in a softer tone.

"I just… I thought you should know. Why I…"

"Why you got an abortion?" Abby looked Olivia straight in the eyes when she said it. Olivia looked back at her, almost daring Abby to judge her choice.

"Yeah, that. I was eight weeks pregnant. I couldn't even… It wasn't a thing yet. So… so I didn't kill anything at all. And it was my choice. _Mine_. You're not allowed to judge me, or even think about judging me for my choice because that's exactly what it was. My own choice. And if I had to do it again, I'd—" Olivia's voice cracked. She paused for a long time. "I don't know what I would do." There was a pause.

"But, but that's not why you got rid of your ba— I mean, it... right?" Abby said. Olivia shook her head, her eyes getting watery.

Olivia took a deep breath before answering. "I went to the doctor when… when the stick had a plus sign on it. And they ran some tests and I have some… some gene. And it will get passed down to any child that I'm ever going to have. So, so you're right, I guess. Any child of Fitz's I _will_ kill, but not because I want to, but because I'm it's mother." Olivia let out a sob.

"Liv… Olivia, what's the gene?" Abby said, worry crossing her face.

"My mother had it, I mean, she had told me once when I was like 10 that she had cancer when she was a baby, but I never thought twice about it because it never came back for her and, well, I never thought that I would get it, and I can't, because you either get it at birth or you never get it, so I'm safe, but…" It took everything she had not break down.

"Are you saying… Liv? You have a cancerous gene, and any child of yours will have cancer?"

"It's every other generation!" Liv cried. "My mom had it, and it skipped a generation, so… So my first born is bound to have it, along with any other child I have. It's not a guarantee that they will have cancer... but the chances are high," she whispered. "Just me, being me, will kill another one of his children. I can't do that to him. I can't… I can't see that look on his face again. He… When Gerry died, well you saw him."

"Liv, that's because he didn't have you to get through it. You, I'm sorry, but you left him _right_ after his son died, _right_ when he needed you most. And, besides, you don't know for sure that your kid would have cancer—" Olivia started shaking her head, making Abby stop mid-sentence.

"It all leads back to me. I always blamed it on other people… My father, my mother, Mellie, you guys—my gladiators—, the Presidency, but it was always me getting in the way of our relationship. _I'm_ the one killing our dream." And Olivia finally lost it. She buried her face in Abby's chest. Abby's eyes started watering at the sight of her friend—she had never seen Olivia in such a state. Abby gave her a minute before she spoke again.

"You may pass down a crappy cancerous gene, but you know what else you'd pass down?" Olivia looked up.

"Your kid would be a gladiator. Mini Olivia Pope would fight that bitch that cancer is, and she or he would win," Abby said with a chuckle. "You're gonna be okay, Liv. And so is Fitz, and so is your relationship with him, and so are the tons of strong kids that you and him are going to have together. So don't give up just because some doctor with numbers and facts about genes is telling you to."

Quinn and Marcus were sitting at the conference table, trying to read Olivia and Abby's lips. Huck was standing in the corner, he knew Liv so well he could tell what the problem was, but he wasn't about to share it with his colleges. He kept track of her what she did, and he knew about a certain trip to the doctor. Quinn smashed her takeout box on the table, making Marcus loose his focus and Huck his train of thought.

"What the hell?"

"Damnit, damnit, damnit!" Quinn cried.

"What?" said Marcus, shocked by her outburst.

"She can't just come back here! She's not a gladiator anymore. Liv's problems? They're on us. _Not_ the White House. Not Abby!"

"Liv's problems are always on the White House. Be realistic. But just for the record, this one? This one's on Liv," said Huck, quietly, from the corner of the room.

"What do you mean—you know?! You _know_ what's been going on with Liv, and you're doing _nothing?"_

"Quinn…" Huck warned.

"No! The least you could of done was told us! Liv's been a reck for _weeks,_ and we all thought it was because of the breakup, but she's never been this bad for this long before. It's something else, but you obviously don't care enough to try and help."

"This is different."

"What do you mean it's different? It's always the same! My new identity, election rigging, Gerry's death, _Harrison's_ death, the kidnapping, it all leads back to the affair! To _him._ Don't tell me this is different, because it never is," Quinn said, standing up.

"This one… This one is Liv. We can't help her. This is sent in stone. And it's not her making a mistake, it's her having something that she doesn't want. And she made a decision based on that. A decision that's not mine to tell. So if you want to know Liv's dirty little secrets, which you _always_ do, be my guest. Because trust me, in this situation, I don't want to have to be the one Liv goes to. You're lucky this one fell on Abby," Huck said, causing Quinn to back down. "You and all your questions, Quinn. One day, they're gonna bite you in the ass."

"What's gonna bite her in the ass? Are you two screwing again?" asked Abby, coming out of the office with Olivia like nothing happened.

"Shut up!" said Quinn, fed up with everyone.

"Wait… what?" asked Marcus.

"Yep, Harrison and I walked in on them doing it, and to this day the image is burned in my mind. By the way, I never got a straight answer… was it the blood that turned you on?" Abby asked with a grin.

"I swear to God—" Quinn started.

"Wait, blood?"

"Aw, newbie, the story is a bit too long to tell. And I have to go, you know, to my high paying job at the White House. Don't mind me," Abby said, picking her bag up off the conference table, and walking out. "Usual time tomorrow?" asked Abby over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm buying coffee this time," Liv responded. Abby smiled, and walked out of OPA.

Marcus shook his head, looking between Huck and Quinn. He then got back to his research of their newest client, Senator Randolph. Huck was doing some hacking, and Olivia was scrolling through her phone. She noticed that Quinn was standing in front of her, waiting for something.

"Do you need something Quinn?" Liv asked, absentmindedly.

"So, we're not going to talk about what just happened?"

"What just happened?" asked Olivia, unfazed.

"You can't keep shutting us out Liv. You have to talk to us. Me. Someone at OPA. The White House shouldn't be your go-to."

"My best friend and my boyfriend both have somewhat high profile jobs at the White House. The White House isn't my 'go-to.' They are."

"You and the President broke up. He's not your boyfriend anymore," said Quinn, noticing Liv's eyes getting sad again. But she continued on. "And up until 20 minutes ago when Abby strutted through these doors like she owned the place, you two weren't speaking. One of these days, they're not going to drop everything for you, Liv. But we will. _I_ will. I'm your gladiator. Over a cliff," Quinn challenged Olivia. Olivia stared at Quinn for a while, both of them well knowing that at the end of the day, Fitz and Abby would go over that cliff as well.

"We have a client. Go dig up as much dirt as you can on Senator Randolph's son," said Olivia as she went back to scrolling through her phone. Quinn rolled her eyes and rather aggressively slammed the door to her office.


	2. Chapter 2

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

The President of the United States was addressing her, and Abby couldn't care less and was completely toning out.

"… you got that? Abby? ABBY!" Fitz had to yell to get her focused again.

"What? Oh, yeah, um meeting with Senator Randolph and move your nine o'clock tomorrow to ten. Got it."

"You okay?" He looked at her. It was very unlike Abby to not pay attention, much less to be off her game like he had noticed she had been the last couple of weeks. She was talking and contributing less, getting confused and lost with simple tasks, and seemed to be avoiding him, her boss, at all costs. Fitz didn't know what was going on.

"I'm fine, sorry. I'm just tired," she said, not looking him in the eye.

Fitz didn't believe her, but let the lie pass. "Okay. But if there is anything you need to talk to me about… just, I'm willing to listen." Fitz didn't assert this type of help to his employees, but he knew something was up, and was just praying that it didn't have to do with Olivia.

It of course did, though.

Abby couldn't stop thinking about the conversation she had with Olivia two weeks ago. They met for coffee each day, and Liv went on like nothing had happened. But in those ten minutes that Abby had gotten Olivia to open up, Abby could see what a mess she was, internally. And she had no idea how to fix it. This one wasn't fixable, not even by Olivia Pope standards. It was stressing Abby out, more and more. But she couldn't tell the President what was going on. This one was on Liv to tell him about. Abby knew at least that if Liv really wanted him, and was willing to try for him, she would have to tell him without somebody else telling him first, like all their secrets had come out previously. Abby couldn't take the chance at a real, honest relationship away from her best friend. So she kept her mouth shut.

—

 **AT THAT SAME TIME**

Olivia and her associates were in the middle of briefing a new client when Jake Ballard walked in. Huck saw him come in first and immediately signaled for Jake to go into his office. But Olivia still saw him. As Jake disappeared into Huck's room, Olivia hissed, "Get him out."

"Liv, he's worried about you," Huck said.

"I honestly could not care less. He needs to leave, or you need to remove him."

"If your father wants to talk to you and Jake is his delivery boy, he won't leave."

"Jake isn't his delivery boy, and you and I both know it. I'm not speaking to him, I'm not going within ten feet of him. Get. Him. Out." Olivia whispered as Quinn looked up while Marcus continued to speak with their client's wife. She watched as Huck and Olivia stared at each other for a long time, almost like a staring contest. It became apparent that Olivia won, because Huck excused himself and went to his office.

"You need to go. She wants you to go," Huck said quietly, shutting the door behind him. Jake looked up.

"You know I can't do that, Huck."

"I know, but just tell me. I'll pass on the message." Jake shook his head.

"That's not going to cut it for Command. You of all people understand. I need to speak to her."

"Even if I was willing to let you do that—and lets be clear, I'm NOT—she wouldn't let you go within ten feet of you. I'm quoting her. She literally said to me that she's 'not going within ten feet of him.' So telling me is the best your going to get. I shouldn't even be allowing Command _that_ curtesy, but I am to help you out. So you should stick with what you've got." Huck looked at Jake fiercely, not braking their eye-contact.

Jake sighed. "Fine. He wants… well needs her help. He's in danger, someone is coming after him. You know who's coming after him. Rowan isn't safe not now, not until _he_ is dead," said Jake, not speaking the perpetrator's name out loud.

"Liv's not going to do anything to help him. Not now, not ever. Getting him out of jail, that sent her over the edge. The disasters it created in her life… What happened to Liv because of Rowan getting out is the reason she has been messed up for weeks. I know you've been watching her Jake. She's not okay, it's never been this bad for this long." Huck sat down, but Jake stayed standing.

"Rowan needs her."

"No, Rowan wants to get B613 back on track, and you _know_ she won't help with that. And I'd stop her before she'd even think about assisting him in starting Wonderland up again."

"I need to see her, Huck," said Jake.

"No. You need to leave." There was a pause. "You're dead to her, you know that right? You and her are _never_ happening. Not after what you've said to her. The ideas and the threats you've put in her mind."

"What _I've_ said to her? What about what she's done to me? Our entire relationship was fake, built off of lies! I gave myself openly to her, and she just kept shutting the door in my face, messing things up, playing games behind peoples' backs! She deserved everything that she got." Jake hissed.

"You ruined the one good thing she had!" Huck said, raising his voice. "You killed it! You talk about how she is the spitting image of Rowan, but that's not true! _You_ are his son. _You_ are the monster living underneath Liv's bed, poisoning her dreams and throwing knives in her back left and right. You say it's her, and she believes you! She's blaming it all on herself. But you're the one that always goes back to Rowan, every single time. And you do it for yourself. She only gives into Rowan when it will benefit someone else. You're a self centered coward that refuses to own up to what you really are, and you need to get the hell out of my office and Liv's life before I kill you."

"I love her. And I hate that I love her but she still has me in this trap, this cage, and I can't get out of it," Jake ran his hands through is hair viciously.

"Yes you can!" this time Huck was yelling. "Nobody wants you in that cage except for you! Liv certainly doesn't want you in the trap that is her life. _You_ are the only person that's keeping yourself under lock and key. But you have the key. So use it, and break free and _leave._ " Huck got up and opened the door. "She'll always choose him. You can ruin them _over_ and _over_ again, but she'll always choose him and they will always rebuild their lives together." Jake stood up, seething with rage.

"You better watch out, Huck. Anyone not on Command's side is an enemy. That means you, that means Olivia. He'll do anything to get what he wants," Jake grabbed his coat off the chair and left the room.

"Use the key, Jake," called Huck as he got on the elevator.

Olivia rounded the corner. Quinn and Marcus were still in the conference room.

"He's gone?" said Olivia.

"He's gone. But Rowan's not," warned Huck.

"I know," said Olivia, but the darkness that had been in her eyes for so long got ever so lighter, and just for a second, Huck saw the real Olivia emerge, the one they had been trying to get at for weeks. But then, just like that, she went away.

—

 **LATER THAT EVENING**

Abby and Olivia were lounging on her new couch, eating popcorn and drinking their second bottle of red wine. The TV was turned on, and some clips from Abby's press corps from that day were playing.

"Let's see," said Liv with a smile, knowing how much Abby hated watching herself of TV.

"No, let's not," said Abby quickly, trying to change the channel, knowing who was about to come on after her to address the press.

"Come on, I want to watch! I'm sure it wasn't _that_ bad. What were you talking about today? Something about recent gang shootings? That's interesting stuff, you—" but Olivia immediately stopped talking and the goofy smile that had been on her face was replaced by a look of sadness and The President walked onto the podium.

"Liv, we don't have to…" Abby stopped, knowing that Olivia wanted to watch. The clip ended and Olivia turned off the TV and sat back, staring out of her window. She finally spoke.

"It was good, classic Fitz. But it wasn't _good._ He wasn't into that one as much, it didn't sound like he cared. He needs to fix his tone. Tell him that he should focus more on addressing the families affected by gangs that have come into the spotlight recently, he needs to go more into depth, into the subjects that people really care about. The press will eat it up. We don't need numbers, we need solutions," she looked up at Abby. "How is he?" she finally asked.

"He's not good. It's not just this press meeting that he wasn't into. It's all of them."

"I know," said Liv, who watched anything new about him. "You need to change that. He needs to be happy again, he needs to finish out this presidency at least acting like he cares."

"He needs you," said Abby. Olivia winced.

"I'm not going there Abby, don't you dare suggest it. He should deal with his own problems for once without me getting tangled up in them. I am fully willing to pretend that we're not broken up for the optics, but that's what it's for; the optics."

"No, it's so that you are able to see him every once and a while," Abby said boldly. Olivia gave Abby a look but chose not to fight with her on this one.

"He needs you," Abby said again, this time softer. "He's so tired all the time. Even after you guys are together for the photos and press, even though it's not real, he's better. He lights up, he's…"

"The man I voted for," Olivia whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Look, he's going to have to do these ten months without me. I'm sorry, but I can't go back there. Not now. The White House is poisoned, and you know it." Abby laughed. And then laughed some more.

"There's all this talk about poisoned White Houses and poisoned relationships and bad guys and good guys, but really it just comes down to you and him needing to sort your crap out for the good of the republic, this great nation that you and I live to serve. The burden that you have, the abortion, the crappy cancerous genes, I'm so sorry Liv. That isn't your fault. But you made it look like your fault the second you aborted his child and didn't tell him about it. It was your choice, but you could of brought it up after wards. That was you giving up, putting down your weapons without even using them. _Try_ a little, Liv. You love him and God does he love you. So you can wait these ten painful months out, I really don't care. But once your ten months, and your excuses with them, run out, you'll have to face him, face reality. And reality is that you two deserve to end up with one another but are so scared of ruining it that you build walls between each other instead of around each other." Abby's phone buzzed, cutting her rant short.

"It's Cy, I have to go in… crap!" said Abby, referring to her work problem. Olivia got up with her, and walked her to the door. Before Abby left she grabbed Liv's hand.

"Start trying to break down those walls," she said and left. After Abby was gone, Liv sat down with her back to her front door, and buried her head in her hands. For the first time in her life, she was willing to admit that she needed him. But she feared that he wouldn't come for her after what she had said to him, and that was the worst thought of all.


	3. Chapter 3

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

"Absolutely not," said Liv, not lifting her gaze to even acknowledge Abby and Cyrus' request.

"Come on, Liv. Just one interview," pleaded Abby.

"Nope. Not happening. Fitz and I will continue to show up at galas and state dinners together. An interview is not on the table. End of discussion."

"No, _no!_ Not end of discussion. It _is_ on the table. These galas and dinners aren't going to cut it, and you know it Liv. You guys haven't don't any interview together, ever. The press are already raising questions as to why you're not seen around the White House outside of formal parties. We're _doing_ an interview," said Cyrus, slamming his hand down on the table

"Cy, I'm not going to argue with you about this," said Olivia, finally lifting her gaze to look at the two of them. They were sitting in Abby's office, Olivia in a chair facing Abby's desk with the two sitting opposite of her. "I don't want to do it, he's not going to want to do this, it will be a complete disaster. They will notice that something's up. This can't happen."

"They won't notice that something's up because you don't need to fake everything. I'll arrange it to be with Barbra Walters, so it will be easy and laid back. I'll make sure that she asks you questions about how you met, how you fell in love, all the juicy stuff that the people will eat up. You two just have to pretend that you are getting along, and everything will be fine," Cyrus explained. "This interview is happening. It will be the only one, but we need at least one. Then the questions will be shut down, and his term will end, and you guys can officially break up or whatever you two do, and then you guys can be on and off and on and off in peace for the rest of your depressing lives and then end."

"Cyrus!" scolded Abby, nudging him with her elbow. Olivia glared at Cyrus but didn't shut him down.

"I'll think about it," she said, grabbing her purse and gloves and starting out the door.

"Next week Friday, 8:00 at the White House. Barbra freaking Walters, Liv!" called Cyrus as Olivia rolled her eyes and shut the door to Abby's office.

Liv walked quickly through the familiar halls, not wanting to run into anyone unwanted visitors. No such luck though, because she walked into him. Literally.

"Jesus, Fitz, what's the hurry," she said, trying not to look him in the eye.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding annoyed. Olivia's eyes flashed.

"I'm sure Cyrus will tell you," she said stepping around him and starting to walk the other way.

"What? Liv!" called Fitz.

"Say no when Cy tells you about it. And try to go around corners more gently next time," she yelled over her shoulder. Fitz sighed and continued walking to his briefing.

—

 **EIGHTEEN MINUTES LATER**

Olivia pulled into a parking space around the back of OPA to avoid any press that might have been standing around the front. She came up the back and entered the conference room to find Huck, Quinn, and Marcus in a heated argument.

"What do you mean—no! Get her out of here! This is not going to go down well, and you both know it!" Quinn yelled. Olivia came in quietly so none of them noticed her at first.

"I say we let her stay. Who knows what she wants? We can't just kick her out," argued Marcus. Huck looked up and saw Liv.

"No, no! You don't know this girl. She's bad news. Huck can tell you, he worked on her case with me. Right, Huck?"

"Liv is here," said Huck quietly.

"What?" Quinn said, not reregistering what he had just said. "No, look Marcus, it was a complete mess and it brought up bad things with Liv. Have you seen her lately? She is not in a good place. And because of that God knows it will bring up bad things with Liv now, so we're getting rid of her," responded Quinn.

"Olivia is here!" said Huck louder.

"Who are we getting rid of?" asked Liv, stepping into the room fully. Quinn gulped and caught her breath. Marcus and Huck shared a look. Olivia's phone started ringing.

"Well?"

The three gladiators looked down.

—

 **AT THAT SAME TIME**

"Absolutely not," said Fitz, sitting in the oval while reading an article.

"Here me out, sir," said Cyrus desperately.

"Liv is right. We're not doing the interview."

"You saw Olivia?" asked Cyrus, caught off guard.

"I ran into her when she was leaving," he said absentmindedly.

"And the White House _didn't_ blow up?" Abby asked. Cyrus gave her a warning look. "What?" she protested. "That's progress, right?" Fitz laughed darkly.

"Look, I know how awkward this must be for you, sir, I am _deeply_ sorry about that, but… well, you're doing the interview. It's been set up, next week Friday… Sir? Are you listening?" asked Cyrus as Fitz got up from his seat to look out of the window. There was a silence in the room for a while.

"Will this shut down the questions? Make the press go away for a while?" he asked in a softer voice.

"Yes. Absolutely. One interview and it's all over until the end of your term, when you can be official about the breakup."

"It's worth it," said Abby.

"Liv won't do it," said Fitz.

"Yes she will," said Abby, which caused both Cyrus and Fitz to turn their attention to her. "What?" she said defensively. "I can get her to do it right now." Abby pulled out her phone and called Liv.

"What," said Liv in a rushed tone.

"He'll do the interview if you do it."

"What? Oh God, Abby if that's what your calling about then I really need go."

"No, Liv, just do the interview."

"Okay, whatever… Quinn! _Who_ are we getting rid of?" Quinn gave a muffled answer.

"What's going on, Liv?" There was complete silence. Then, "Oh my God," whispered Olivia.

"Liv? Are you okay."

"I—I need to go," Olivia said and hung up.

"What happened?" asked Fitz looking worried.

"Did she say yes to the interview?" asked Cy, passing over what the President had just said.

"I mean, she said 'okay,' so—"

"It's a yes! I'm calling Barbra Walters right now…" said Cyrus as he rushed out of the office.

"What happened with Liv?" asked Fitz.

"I… I don't know. She just hung up… but I'm sure she's fine. I heard Quinn in the background. I'll call her later," said Abby, not looking reassured. "Well, I'll start making preparations for that interview, I guess," she said awkwardly.

"Abby? Could you just let me know—I mean when you call later… If Liv is okay? I just, she doesn't pick up my calls, we don't talk so…"

"I understand, sir," said Abby closing the door with a sad smile. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear from her."

—

 **AT THAT SAME TIME**

Olivia hung up and turned towards her office. "Have you asked her why she's here?" Liv said.

"She won't say. She just said that she would wait for you when she got back. I think she assumed that you were at the White House, and well… maybe didn't want to go there to talk to you," said Marcus.

"Oh my God. Oh my God! Okay… wait, why would she talk to me? God, I really don't want to do this,'' Olivia sighed.

"It's the right thing to do," Huck said, putting a hand on her arm and looking Liv in the eyes. Olivia took a breath, and walked into her office, shutting the door behind her.

"Karen, what can I do for you?" asked Olivia.

"We need to talk," Karen Grant said, standing up.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm sorry… I don't—When was the last time you spoke to your father?" asked Olivia, slightly confused.

"I'd say a little over three months ago, on the phone," said Karen, calmly.

"Three months? Oh my… I'm sorry. He should of… We should of talked to you in person."

"Oh please, Olivia, I have known about you and my dad since… forever."

"What?" asked Olivia, taken back.

"I mean, I never knew, but… I _knew,_ see?" asked Karen with a slight smile.

"I'm afraid… I don't know what you mean."

"Well, nobody ever told me full on that my dad was having an affair with Olivia Pope, but well, the way he looked at you… Me and my brother speculated about it for years. Gerry was actually the one who first noticed it."

"Noticed… what, exactly?" Olivia said faintly.

"Look, my parents' marriage was dead before you came along. You and I both know it. But I remember when I first met you, it was when Gerry and I had come onto the campaign trail for the beginning of our summer break. He was different. My dad, I mean. The last time we had seen him, like spent time with him, was spring break. But you hadn't joined yet the team yet. And it was the usual depressing boringness. But that time… He was… happy. For the first time in so long. And the campaign was kinda fun, because he was happy. He was in a good mood all the time and we actually felt like we had a dad in the longest time. And he wasn't winning, so Gerry and I, didn't understand at all why he was in such a good mood all the time. But in that week and a half that we saw you with him… we could eventually tell," said Karen, looking at Olivia. Olivia sat back in her seat, and stared at Karen for a long time. The last time she had seen her was right after Gerry had just died, and Karen was a mess; Olivia had stop a sex tape of Karen from being released. Karen had changed a lot. The death of her brother was less prominent. She spoke of him with ease, and there wasn't so much sadness and loss in her eyes.

"What can I help you with, Karen?" asked Olivia softly.

"Look, it's not one of your normal Olivia Pope cases. I just wanted to talk. I've been having some trouble at school, you know, ever since the news came out about you and my dad, and I was wondering if, you know, you could give me some advice?" Karen looked awkward for the first time since Olivia had walked into her office.

"I'm not so sure I understand what your asking, Karen."

"I'm having a lot of problems. All the friends I've ever made at my boarding school were just friends with me for the fame, and then with Gerry died I got even more fake friends, but it was weird because they all really distanced themselves and now they all make fun of me… I don't have anybody, and you seem like somebody that I could talk to, and I wold be able to know that what I said could stay between us. Not that I have anything important to say, but…" Karen seemed to shrink down. "I just need to have a friend, Olivia."

"Karen, I… well this was much better than I was expecting. I thought you hated me, frankly," Liv said with a shaky laugh.

"I know why you would think that, but I don't hate you. You saved my dad. I've already lost my brother and if it weren't for you I would've lost my dad too. Don't get me wrong, my dad is not a good father, at all. And how you guys were together was wrong. But he loves you, that I know. And I also know that he loves me. He's still always been there for me when I needed it most. Thank you for that."

"Look, I think that we should start off as non-friends. I… I don't have too many friends either, but I'd like know you better, and we'll see about the friend title." Olivia sighed and then said, "I don't have any cases that need me at the office right now. Will you, um, can I take you out to lunch? There's a really good place that has a good veggie burger, I hear," Olivia said with a smile.

"How'd you know that I was a vegetarian?"

"Lucky guess. Is that a yes?"

Karen smiled for the first time in a while. "It's a yes."

* * *

"Quinn, I need you and Marcus to look up everything you can on what is happening with my father and Jake right now, see if anybody has heard anything. Huck, you're hacking. I don't care what you're hacking into, as long as it has some relevance. We're not taking any new clients in right now until we know what they are planning, and who exactly is after them. I want answers when I get back, people!" Olivia grabbed her coat. "We can go around the back, that's where my car is parked," she said to Karen, who nodded and slipped her jacket on. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"You're job looks, like, really cool," said Karen as they got on to the back elevator. Olivia laughed.

"I like it, too."

"So what exactly do you do?"

"I'm technically a political fixer, so I manage the media around politicians and handle their problems outside of the courthouse," explained Olivia.

"So what case was that about?"

"Oh, that wasn't one of my cases. It was… Something else," said Olivia, guarded.

"If you don't mind me asking… you mentioned your father?"

"Let's just say that you and I both haven't had the best fathers, although I can assure you that yours is much better than mine," said Liv with a forced smile. Karen nodded, taking a mental note to stay away from that touchy subject. They went down the elevator and around the back to the parking lot where Liv's black SUV was parked. Olivia had shocked herself. She had never fully even talked about her father to someone without really getting to know them, but she had then and there answered this girl and she barley knew's question completely truthfully. It was surprising how open she was letting herself be with Fitz's daughter, and she didn't understand it at all.

Karen sat in the front seat of Olivia's car and right away turned on the radio. "I hope you don't mind," said Karen. Olivia shook her head, not caring. It was completely weird, but also interesting, to interact with a teenager, something she never did.

"By any chance does your dad know that your here, or not in boarding school?"

"Nope, and you're not going to tell him, right? My secret service, they haven't told anyone," Karen said, pointing to the back car that was also parked in the lot.

"Absolutely not," Liv said, and they started driving.

* * *

 **TWO HOURS LATER**

Abby, Cyrus, Liz, the Vice President, and Fitz were sitting in a conference room, watching the news. They were waiting to see if there would be any coverage on the recent Senate meeting when the news took a complete different turn.

"And images are just coming out of what looks like to be Karen Grant, our President's daughter, and Olivia Pope, our President's girlfriend, having a girls day out, pictures of them having lunch and going to the mall being taken just one hour ago, and I'm being told that they are still together in the D.C. mall," the reporter stated, pictures of Liv and Karen laughing and having lunch together. Next images of Karen and Liv shopping in high end stores with reporters being held off by their secret service.

"What?!" said Fitz, jumping up.

"Sir, I have no idea—" Cyrus started.

"I need you to tell me how _exactly_ Karen left her school without me being notified and why the hell she and Liv are together!" yelled Fitz.

"Well, I have a meeting…" started Susan.

"And…" said Liz, searching for an excuse to leave.

"She and I are going to brief Madame Vice President on her points and debate areas," said Abby quickly, wanting to call Liv to see what was going on. Fitz didn't seem to hear, so the three left hurriedly to hear Fitz yelling at Cyrus to figure their next issue out. As soon as Abby got back to her office she closed the door and called Liv.

"Hold on, I have to take this one… No! Stop it, it's my best friend. No, go to the bathroom, I'll wait out here… Go!" said Liv with a laugh. "Sorry, hey Abby, what's up," Olivia said, unnaturally casual.

"What's up? _What's up?_ Since when have I been replaced by Karen Grant?"Abby demanded. Olivia laughed.

"Calm down. She came back from boarding school early to talk with me and we're having a day together. What's the big deal?" asked Liv innocently.

"The big deal is that I just barley escaped my boss, who happens to be POTUS and you're ex, ordering me to go on a witch hunt for you two! He's pissed, Liv. Where the hell is this coming from?"

"Look, she was lonely, she needed someone to talk to, and frankly I needed someone to talk to too."

"You can talk to _me,_ Liv. You know, you're best friend?" Abby sighed. "Does she know that you and him aren't exactly on speaking terms?"

"Yes, for your information, she does, and I think that made her trust me more. I don't need your criticism here."

"Jesus Christ, Olivia. You're playing dangerous cards right now."

"The cards are in my hand. I'm fine. Don't tell me what to do, don't let _him_ tell me what to do. I honestly have no idea why I didn't talk with her earlier with Fitz. He completely ignores her, do you realize that? At least he's not as bad as Mellie, though."

"Look, as much as I would love to gossip about Fitz's daughter, I have more important things to do. All I'm saying, Liv, is that you may not care, but this one is his daughter. If you try and use her to your advantage in any way..."

"Wow, that one was low Abby. As shocking as this may seem, it's nice to get a third opinion around her. Karen's a good kid. And she lost her brother, her only friend. After everything that's happened, the least I could do was take her out to lunch. And besides, he's never happy about anything I do. Why do you think he forced me into the White House to monitor my every move? He doesn't trust me."

"Well, if you keep pulling stunts like this I'm going to take his side on this one," warned Abby.

"Excuse me? Take his side? Abby what is - Look, Karen's coming back. We'll continue this later," said Olivia, angrily hanging up on Abby.

* * *

"Somebody's angry," said Karen, giving Olivia a raised-eyebrow look.

"Abby's mad at me," said Olivia. Karen looked at her, silently wondering why. "She kinda works for the White House," said Olivia, explaining

"What?" said Karen, laughing. "Let me get this straight. You come clean to the world about your affair with the President of the United States of America, you break up with my dad but don't come clean about that part, my parents are divorced and not talking and you helped my mom a couple weeks ago with her filibuster instead of being with my dad, and speaking of fathers your dad is doing something bad that we don't talk about, and now your best friend works at the White House?"

"Yep, and I haven't told you half of it. I can't actually, the rest of my problems are probably illegal to talk about," said Liv seriously. Karen burst out laughing.

"What?!"

"You play a good game, Olivia. Dangerous, but a good one," she said still laughing. Olivia started to smile at the sight of a teenage girl getting amusement out of her messed up life. Olivia started to chuckle, and then the two of them burst out laughing. That was the best picture the media got all day; the two women laughing their heads off together.


	5. Chapter 5

**THE NEXT DAY**

Karen Grant's secret service car pulled into the underground parking lot for the White House. She scrolled through her phone nervously, not actually doing anything. As much as she denied it, she was scared to go see her dad. She knew that he would not be pleased at all that she got her security to let her out of school early, and that she spent the extra day with Olivia. Accompanied by her guys, she took the elevator up and walked down the halls of the White House to her room, where her men put her bags down for her. She thanked them and dismissed them. Karen's phone buzzed. It was a text from Olivia.

 _You have nothing to hide. Don't let him push you around. It's not like you did anything wrong :)_

Karen grinned, feeling immensely grateful for the friendship that Olivia had offered her. Taking deep breaths she walked to her dad's office, where his secretary, Charlotte, informed her that her dad was in a meeting.

"I'll let him know that you're here. I'm sure he'll want to see you," said Charlotte, looking the Grant child over. Karen snorted. _He most definitely wants to see me,_ she thought to herself.

"Okay, well, I'll wait for him inside," she said, letting herself in and slamming the door before Charlotte could protest.

Karen wandered over to his dad's desk. Any pictures that there had once been of her mom had been taken down, and now his window ledge was adorned with pictures of her, Gerry and Teddy. Karen smiled to herself, seeing that her dad had finally updated her school photo that she had been begging him to change. The one before the updated picture was horrible and years old. Seeing nothing else of interest on top of his desk, she occupied herself by sitting in his chair and searching through his drawers. She didn't find anything worth a second glance until she reached his top drawer which contained a thin box full of pictures of him and Olivia. Ones from when they first met, working together on the trail, up until recently, them being seen together at parties and on red carpets. They both looked happy and engaged with one another up until the most recent pictures, where they looked posed and slightly sad. Karen was still looking through the photos when her dad walked into the oval.

"Karen?" She jumped in her seat.

"Oh, hi dad. Charlotte said that you were in a meeting so I figured…"

"That you'd make yourself at home," Fitz sighed. "Some of that is classified information—"

"That's not what I was looking at," said Karen, hastily shoving the pictures into the drawers and closing them.

"Yeah, I can see that." There was an awkward pause. "Come here," Fitz finally said. "I haven't seen you in a long time." _Whose fault is that?_ Karen thought to herself, but obliged and gave her father a hug.

"Let's talk," he said, breaking the hug.

—

 **AT THAT SAME TIME**

Huck, Marcus, and Quinn were all sitting at the conference table working. Marcus finally broke the silence.

"So when did Liv say she was going to get here?"

"In an hour," responded Huck. The three fell back into a silence. After a while it was broken again by the same person.

"Are we sure there are no clients today?"

"Nope," said Quinn, continuing to type on her keyboard.

"It just seems weird, not having clients. What are we even supposed to be finding about Liv's dad?"

"You ask a lot of questions, newbie. What did I say about that?" said Quinn, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Yeah, yeah, don't ask questions, over a cliff, blah blah. But I don't understand, why are taking so much time on Liv's dad when he isn't even a real concern right now."

"Rowan is always a concern. He's Command. There are going to be times, times that seem insignificant and random and have no meaning, but there are going to be times when we drop all of our work and search for Command, check up on him. As long as we do that, we can keep gladiating. Otherwise, Liv gets nervous. She starts going into bad places, shutting us out. And when she shuts us out we don't know what Command is up to. So if Liv asks you to keep a watch on Command, you keep a watch on Command," said Huck.

"But isn't she shutting us out now? Isn't she in a bad place now?"

"Yeah. But this one isn't about Command. We can't fix this one. This time it's on her," said Huck. He and Quinn shared a glance.

"It's about the President, right?"

"One thing that you will learn, Marcus, is that Liv and the President are very on and off. They have put down their thing and picked it back up so many times… they always make mistakes and they always forgive each other and then they go and make mistakes again," Quinn stated.

"But this time…?" Marcus asked.

"This time the President isn't going to forgive her. And he doesn't even know what she has done wrong yet," said Huck. Quinn looked at him, wanting to know what only he, Abby, and Olivia knew about.

—

 **TWO HOURS LATER**

"I'm so pissed at you," said Abby coming into Olivia's room and sitting on her bed.

"Abby?" Olivia called from the shower.

"Who else?" asked Abby, who had let herself in with a key.

"Don't you have work?" Olivia yelled at her.

"Don't _you_ have work? Or are you going on another date with Karen?" snapped Abby. She heard the shower turn off. Two minutes later Olivia stepped out in a bathrobe.

"Why are you mad at me?" questioned Olivia.

"Why am I mad at you? _Why_ am I mad at you?"

"Karen Grant is non of your concern. He can be mad at me. If he has a problem with me spending one day with his daughter than that's a conversation that he needs to have with me."

"And what a lovely conversation _that_ would be," Abby muttered under her breath.

"But you, why are you so mad?" Olivia continued, ignoring her friend's previous comment. "I don't think I've done anything to offend you. Unless you're jealous of a seventeen year old girl, but I don't think you would ever fall that low. And just for the record, you have nothing to be jealous of," said Olivia, finished getting dressed and finally looking Abby in the eye. She gave her a small smile.

"I know. I honestly don't know why I'm pissed at you. I feel like it's my job requirement to be angry at you all the time. Like, that was a given when I took this job," confessed Abby. Olivia laughed.

"I can't argue with that."

"So correction: _He's_ pissed." Abby gave Olivia a look. She sighed.

"I literally spent one afternoon with his daughter. I bought her lunch. She told me about her small, insignificant, high school problems and made me care about her. It's stupid right? But… she needs a friend. And I'm going to be that friend weather or not Fitz likes it—" Olivia was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

"Who the hell is that?" asked Abby.

"I don't know," said Olivia.

—

 **AT THAT SAME TIME**

Fitz walked into Karen's room a couple hours after their short and awkward conversation had ended.

"Hey," he said, standing in the doorframe.

"Hi, sorry," she said, jumping up from her bed and putting her laptop down. "I'll be ready in literally ten minutes—"

"No, don't worry, we still have an hour before the interview. I just wanted to… I feel like we haven't really talked."

Karen looked up at him. "You mean our conversation hasn't come to the topic of your mistress yet?" she asked bluntly. Fitz flinched at the word 'mistress.'

"Don't call Olivia that, and that's not what I meant. Kare, you haven't talked to me yet. It's just me asking you questions and you answering with a yes or no. What's going on?"

"'Don't call Olivia that?' Huh," said Karen.

"What?"

"Nothing it's just… nothing. She's my friend dad."

"No, she's not."

"Yes, she is. You have no idea what you're talking about. We're friends. Why haven't I been talking to you? I don't need to, because I got it all off my chest yesterday."

"When you went on your little afternoon date with Liv?"

"Yeah. And guess what? She _listened._ Funny, right? She was the last person you or I would expect to hear out my petty high school, college application, mean girls problems. But she listened, and actually seemed to care. And, yeah, maybe she's in such a bad place that she has sunk this low to actually talk to me, but it is what it is. And let's remember, _you_ are the one who has put her in such a bad place."

"Don't act as if you know about us, Karen! What goes on with me and Liv… you have no idea what you are talking about. She was the one who broke it up with me, who put herself in such a bad state."

"You locked her up in here!"

"That's what she told you?" Fitz ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head.

"She didn't have to tell me! I know what it's like, remember? I'm the President's freaking daughter! Why do you think me and Gerry chose to go to boarding school? We knew that it would be living hell to be here. Because that's what this is; hell. This place, your job—and don't get me wrong, you're pretty decent at your job from what I've heard. But you can't just lock people up in here to solve your problems, dad," Karen yelled. She then went into a softer tone. "I know that you have good intentions. I know that you love her, and me, and Teddy. But…"

"I can't keep you guys safe," Fitz said, defeated. "Gerry is dead because I couldn't keep him safe. Liv has been in more danger than you could ever imagine, and every day I'm scared for you and Teddy. And I don't know what to do. You and your younger brother are everything to me, and… so is she."

"I know that dad. I know." Fitz sat down next to his daughter on her bed. She rested her shoulder on his.

"For the record, Liv and I _are_ friends, just to be clear," Karen said. Fitz smiled.

—

 **AT THAT SAME TIME**

"Can you grab the door? I'm not finished straightening my hair," said Liv, addressing Abby. She sighed and reluctantly got up and walked to the door. Abby swung the door open.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Abby, in shock, not thinking about who she was addressing.

"Excuse me?" asked Mellie Grant, standing in the doorway of Olivia's apartment.

"Oh my God. I'm sorry, Senator Grant. Just… surprised," Abby said, collecting herself.

"I need to speak with Olivia. Is she here?"

"Yeah, but she's busy."

"I'll wait," said Mellie. Abby was still standing in front of her. "Well, can I come in?"

"Um… okay," Abby said nervously, stepping aside. Mellie walked into Olivia's apartment, looking around.

"It's cute. Very Liv," said Mellie.

"Yeah, I'll just… I'll tell Liv you're here."

"You do that," said Mellie with a smile, taking a seat on Olivia's couch. "Please tell her it's important."


	6. Chapter 6

Abby rushed back into Liv's room, where she was finishing straightening her hair.

"Who was it?" asked Olivia, absentmindedly.

"It was Senator Grant," said Abby, nervously.

Liv paused. "Oh. I though she might come talk to me. Okay. Can you just stay in my room for now?"

"I'm going to go grocery shopping for you," said Abby.

"You don't have to do that."

"Yes I do," said Abby, wanting to get out of the house badly, but also wanting an excuse to come back so that she could hear what Senator Grant wanted.

"Fine, go," said Liv. She unplugged the straightening iron and walked out, calmly. Abby rushed out the door.

"Hi Mellie," Olivia said, sitting down next to her on her couch.

"Liv, it's good to see you."

"It's been a while. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," Mellie said in a stiff voice, on edge. The two woman looked at each other.

"So what do I owe the pleasure?" said Liv, the tiniest bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"I just wanted to let you know that though you may now be the woman in Fitz's life, you sure as hell aren't the new woman in Karen's. There are boundaries. And that little fiasco that was you're publicized get together with my daughter will never, I repeat _never,_ happen again. Understand?"

"I don't quite know what you're getting at, Mellie," Olivia said.

"You are not Karen's mother."

"I know that."

"I don't believe you. You have overstepped in my marriage, my job, and now my children. _I_ am Karen's mother."

"I know that."

"Well you aren't acting like you understand."

"I just took her to lunch. Maybe if you would actually talk to your daughter for once, you would understand that she needed someone to talk to, and you and Fitz didn't seem like the best candidates. I know I'm not her mother. And a mother's job isn't to be her daughter's friend, so I would understand if you didn't know every little thing that's going on in her life. But when was the last time you or Fitz even talked to her? She's lonely."

"Are you suggesting that I don't know my own daughter."

"I am. I'm not saying you are a bad mother, because that would be a lie. You have done good in your children's lives. But somewhere down the road after Gerry died you gave up on Teddy and Karen, and it was Fitz too, but you gave up on them when they needed you most. Especially Karen. Gerry was her best friend."

"And who do I have to thank for my son's death?" Mellie said gravely.

"Mellie, I. Did not. Kill your son. Do you understand? That was my father. A man who shouldn't even be given the title of father after what he has done. You don't even begin to want to imagine what type of horrors he has created. I am sorry. What happened to you and Fitz and Karen and Teddy and Gerry is unfixable and it will haunt you for the rest of your lives. But Karen has had a very hard time. And maybe if you would just talk to her, the grief that the both of you have might lessen a little," Olivia spoke in a softer tone. "It's true that you have me to blame for so many problems. You are hurt in a way that cannot be healed by what Fitz and I did to you. But you have a chance here. A real chance for the first time in your life to get to know you daughter, and it might just help you out, too. She's a good kid."

"I know that. She's… better than you and me."

"That she is," Olivia agreed. "I'm sorry if you think I overstepped. But if Karen is in a bad place I can be the friend to get her out of it. But I'm never going to be her mother. That's one thing that I'm never going to take away from you, understand? I have no desire for her, or anyone for that matter to start calling me mom."

"Well, that's a shock."

"It's complicated."

"When it comes to you, it's always complicated." Mellie said. Olivia sighed.

"Look, I don't at all care about your relationship with him, but… well you're not living in the White House. And I'd figured that he had moved you in there already. I just… I gave up _everything_ all for him to be with. So don't ever give up on him. You owe me that." Mellie looked at Olivia fiercely.

"Okay," Olivia said.

"Thanks for having me. I have to admit that I like your place."

Olivia gave her a small smile. "Call your daughter," she said opening the door for her.

"Okay," said Mellie, leaving.

—

 **THREE HOURS LATER**

"You're interview is in exactly six hours. Have you talked to her? Does she even realize that it's happening?" yelled Cyrus.

"Look, I don't know," said Fitz running his hands through his curly hair. "Did she mention it to you?" he asked, turning to his daughter who was once again sitting in his chair at his desk, going through her phone.

"What? Olivia? No."

"Well just have Red call her."

"You have Abby call her! I have to go start prepping questions!" Cy said, outraged.

"Look, I don't have time for this. Is Red even in today?"

"How should I know?"

"Just call her! And tell her to call Olivia!"

"Jesus christ _I'll_ do it," grumbled Karen, putting her phone to her ear. It rung two times before Olivia picked up.

"Karen? Is everything okay?" Olivia sounded distracted. Karen put the phone on speaker.

"They want to let you know that apparently you have an interview at seven thirty tonight. And you need to be at the White House at least two hours beforehand," Karen said in a lazy tone.

"God… I don't want to—tell them I'm busy."

"Oh, they heard," said Karen, as the phone was on speaker.

"You're doing it!" yelled Cyrus.

"Oh, it's so lovely to hear from you too, Cy. How's your daughter? How's your husband?"

"Liv…" growled Cyrus.

"I'll be there at seven. I'm choosing my outfit, doing my own makeup."

"No, you'll be here at—"

"Let her be, Cy. It's fine. Let's just get this over with," Fitz said. Olivia hated that her heart sped up at the sound of his voice.

" _Seven o'clock,"_ Olivia repeated, and then she hung up.

"God save us all," muttered Cyrus. Karen chuckled, going on her phone again, and her dad angrily sat down on the couch.

—

 **ONE HOUR LATER**

Abby's phone started ringing as she scanned her badge through the White House's security system.

"Liv?"

"Hey, are you at work yet?"

"I'm walking in, why?"

"Um, Mellie Grant, she… might be on her way."

"What?" asked Abby.

"You heard me," Olivia said with a sigh. "Senator Grant. She'll want to speak with Karen."

"Oh God, Liv. You didn't."

"I didn't do a thing. I told her to call Karen. But, you know Mellie."

"Okay. Thanks Liv. I'll warn Cyrus."

There was a silence.

"Liv?" Abby asked.

Olivia sighed. Abby smiled to herself.

"I'll tell him too."

"Bye, Abby," Olivia whispered. She hung up. Abby walked down the hall to her office, dropped her things off, and checked the President's schedule. Because he had nothing going on at that time, Abby made her way to the oval. She was surprised to see Karen lounging in her father's chair but said nothing of it. Fitz was sitting on his couch working and Cyrus was on the phone with Barbra Walters.

"… confirmed for tonight, yes. You can have your team start setting up any time. Which room were you thinking?" Cyrus glanced up, seeing Abby walk in.

"Okay, sounds good Barbra. See you soon," Cy said with a forced cheerfulness as he hung up.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"Places," Abby answered. "Olivia is confirmed for seven," she said after. Fitz acknowledged her presence for the first time by looking up when she spoke Olivia's name.

"Anything else?" Cyrus asked in a tired voice.

"Yes, actually. I think—Well Olivia thinks that we have a storm coming our way."

"As in?" Fitz asked.

Just as he said it Mellie Grant barged into the room with two frantic security guards following.

"As in Senator Grant," finished Abby. Fitz rolled his eyes. Cyrus stood there with his mouth open. Karen shrunk down in her seat.

"We're sorry, sir, we tried to stop her, but—"

"You had no right to," stated Mellie. She turned to Karen. "Hi, sweetie. I wanted to talk."

"Did you bring Teddy?"

"What?" asked Mellie, taken aback.

"I haven't seen my younger brother in forever. I don't think he knows I exist. Dad said that he was staying with you this weekend. Did you bring him? Or will I have to take that awkward car ride to your new house to pick up my younger brother and bring him back here?" Karen looked her mother in the eye. Mellie looked as if she wanted to say something but was stopping herself.

"He's here," she said finally.

"Where?" asked Karen, looking excited for the first time since her mother appeared in front of her. Mellie sighed and stepped out of the oval to where a stroller was sitting next to Charlotte, Fitz's secretary. Mellie picked up her sleeping son who started to wake up and walked back into the office. Fitz grinned for the first time that day and took his son out of her arms. Teddy was now fully awake.

"Daddy!" he cried.

"Hi, little man. How are you today?"

"Yeay!" he cried happily. Everyone in the room laughed, even Cyrus.

"Can I hold him?" asked Karen, from the other side of the room.

"You can sit with him," said Fitz with a smile. He sat his son next to him on the couch. "You're a big boy, aren't you. You don't need to be held."

"Big boy! Big boy!" Teddy repeated.

"Can you walk over to your sister and say hi?"

"Whose dat?" Teddy asked, looking around, confused. Fitz pointed to where Karen was sitting.

"Can you go say hi?"

"Hi!" screamed Teddy, waddling towards the girl. "Hi, Teddy," whispered Karen. Her younger brother looked up at her with eyes of wonder. Then he broke out into a toothy grin. "Hi! What's your name?"

"Karen," she said. "Remember me? I'm… I'm your sister."

"Kawen…" Teddy said, testing it out. "Kawen! Kawen!" he said excitedly, remembering. She laughed. "That's me."

Fitz smiled for the first time in days. Mellie cleared her throat.

"Karen?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?" said Karen, not looking up but still looking at her younger brother.

"Could we maybe talk after this?" The room went silent, even Teddy stopped laughing, sensing the tensions rising in the room. Abby and Cyrus both gave lame excuses and left the room, and Fitz looked up, wanting to hear Karen's response.

There was a long silence.

"Maybe," she said quietly. "But first Teddy is going to show me his big boy bed, aren't you?" Teddy nodded. "Last time I saw you, it was a crib. But now you're a what?"

"Big boy!" Teddy cried. Karen picked him up and put him on her shoulders. "Tell me where to go, big boy!" she called.

Their shouts of laughter could be heard down the halls of the White House.


	7. Chapter 7

**FOUR HOURS LATER**

Olivia and Fitz's interview was in one hour. The camera team was prepped, the room was chosen and ready, down to the color of the pillows (which were black to complement the silver shirt that Olivia was supposed to wear). Barbra Walters had her questions ready, all about the past to not bring up any touchy subjects, per Cyrus' request. Fitz's suit was picked out. Olivia's shirt, pants, and shoes were waiting for her when she got there. The lighting was right. Everybody was ready.

But Olivia and Fitz weren't.

—

 **OLIVIA'S HOUSE**

"They are having a car come pick you up," said Abby.

"Jesus Christ-" Olivia sighed, running her hands through her perfectly straightened hair. "I know how to drive, Abby. Will you please call Cyrus and tell him that I know how to work a car?"

"He thinks that you are going to bail... The secret service, once they get here, are to, ah, make sure that you get to that interview on time," Abby looked uncomfortable.

Olivia rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry that you have to do this."

"It's not your fault," said Olivia, putting her coat on.

"I know, but I'm sorry," Abby said, looking Olivia in the eyes. She sighed.

"I know what I'm going to say, Abby. Cyrus made sure that Barbra only asks questions about our past. I'll... We'll tell the truth. How we met. We'll make jokes, we'll hold hands, we'll give each other looks every once and a while. I know how this works. I taught him how to fake it with Mellie," Olivia laughed. "I though that moving out of that place would ensure that I would never be like Mellie Grant, yet here I am." Olivia gave a sad smile.

Abby cleared her throat. "Liv, uh, the car is here for us."

"Of course it is," whispered Liv, giving her apartment one last look before turning out the lights and closing the door.

—

 **THE PRESIDENTIAL BEDROOM**

"How do I look?" asked Fitz with a smile.

"Are you _seriously_ asking me that question?" groaned Karen, who was sitting on her dad's bed. Fitz laughed, straightening his tie. It was striped green.

"I feel like the tie is off, you know? Like it should be a different color or something," he commented.

"How should I know?" muttered Karen. Fitz laughed.

"Dad?" Karen asked.

"Yeah?" he said, turning around to face her.

"I don't want to go to boarding school anymore."

"What do you mean? I thought you love your school."

"Loved. I loved it. I had freedom. But now I hate it. I want to go to school here, in D.C. And things are better with us. It used to be my only option, but now… I have you, for the first time I have a father." Fitz sighed.

"I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to become a good one for you. I've done a lot of bad things, but my biggest regret will always be not being a father for you, Gerry and Teddy. Karen, I'd love for you to go to school here. I'll talk to your mother. I'm sure that she would like it too." Fitz sat next to her on his bed. "I'm going to make this right, Karen. I'm going to be a good dad."

"Better late than never," said Karen, giving her dad a smile.

"Thank you for giving me a chance. I promise that I will always be there for you, for the rest of your life. I love you, Karen. I always have, I just haven't shown it in the best ways. But… I really want us to be a family now. You, me, Teddy…"

"Anybody else?" asked Karen, nudging him on the shoulder. Fitz looked at her.

"I want Olivia to be part of our family, too," Karen said. Fitz looked down.

"Karen, I don't—"

"Don't say anything, dad. I know. Trust me, I know."

Just then Teddy came running into the room, with his nurse following closely.

"Little man! Just on time," said Fitz, grinning and picking his son up. "I've missed you this week! What have you and your mom been up to?"

"Kawen is here!" the little boy cried, ignoring his dad's question. Karen grinned.

"You ready to have fun tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Teddy cried. "With daddy too?"

"Um, daddy has to do something tonight. But do you want to go make cookies?" Karen turned the conversation around. Teddy screamed cries of joy, and him, Karen, and his nannie went down to the kitchens.

After they left, Fitz stood up and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, giving his room one last look before closing the door.

—

 **THIRTY MINUTES LATER (TEN MINUTES BEFORE THE INTERVIEW)**

"You ready?" asked Cy, coming up from behind Olivia, who was seated and looking on her phone.

"Don't ask me that," said Olivia.

"Liv, don't pull anything," said Cyrus.

"What? I'm not going to _pull_ anything, Cy, trust me the last thing I want to do—" as she looked up she stopped talking, seeing Fitz walk into the room. "Jesus…" she muttered under her breath. "What the _hell_ is that tie?" she asked, louder, getting up. She looked at Cyrus, who was wearing a plain red tie. "Give me your tie," she said.

"What? No," he protested.

"Give it to me!" Cyrus sighed, and took it off. Liv ran over to Fitz.

"Take off your tie, it's absolutely disgusting," said Liv, starting to take it off for him.

Fitz gave a smile. "I knew it was the tie that was off."

Olivia rolled her eyes, starting to put Cyrus' tie on him. She still wouldn't look him in the eye.

"I have this weird sense of déjà vu," Fitz said. Olivia heard the smile in his voice.

"Maybe you should start wearing better ties," said Olivia, finished.

"Maybe," he said, softly. She finally raised her eyes to look at him. There were tons of other people milling around the room, but it felt like they were the only two. She hadn't been so close to him in ages.

"Thanks for doing this, Livvie," he said. Her heart hurt, hearing the name that he called her.

"Yeah, sure," she whispered. "It's nothing." She looked into his eyes, those gorgeous eyes.

He shook his head. "Yeah, nothing. That's what it is." There was a silence. "You look beautiful," he said, and walked away.

—

 **TEN MINUTES LATER (START OF THE INTERVIEW)**

"I'm here live with our very own President Grant and his new leading lady, Ms. Olivia Pope," said Barbra Walters into the camera. Olivia was seated in a small couch next to Fitz, their legs up against each other. Fitz's tie was complementing Olivia's red heals, paired with her silver dress. Barbra was sitting across from them in an arm chair.

"I know that I along with the rest of the world have been dying to hear their story; how they met, how they fell in love, and how they decided to give it all up for each other. Tonight we will finally get to ask the questions that have gone unanswered and really get to know these two better now that their secret is out," Barbra continued. She turned to face Liv and Fitz. "Thank you both so much for having me, and Mr. President for graciously inviting me to the White House." Olivia smiled.

"Of course, Barbra, our pleasure," he said.

"So it really has been a journey, now hasn't it? But you relationship now is all people are talking about, so I want to focus really on the past. How did you two meet?"

They both looked at each other, wondering who would answer the question. Olivia took a stab at it.

"Well, when we first met Fitz fired me," Olivia said. Barbra gave a shocked laugh.

"No, no, no, let _me_ tell this one, you'll twist it up," Fitz said, grabbing Olivia's hand. She felt electricity shoot up her arm, and it took everything for her to not show it.

"So my current Chief-of-Staff, and then campaign manager, Cyrus Been had known Liv and asked her to come on the trail to be the campaign fixer. This was in, what…"

"2010," Olivia said, finishing the sentence for him.

"Yeah, _wow_ that was a while ago. So she comes and starts criticizing me—"

"Um, _helping_ you would be the correct phrase," Liv said with a grin. "I said what every body else was too afraid to say to fix up your campaign."

"Which was what, exactly?" asked Fitz.

"Something about you and Mellie, needing to be seen together more," Liv said, rushing over the touchy subject.

"Well, I didn't like _that,_ her embarrassing me in front of every one, understandably," said Fitz with a smile.

"So he rushed to Cyrus like a baby, begging him to fire me—"

"I was making a calculated choice that I now know wasn't the smartest one—"

"So basically you were being stupid about me saying what everyone was thinking," said Liv. Fitz grinned.

"Maybe," he said. Barbra and the rest of the people watching the interview, and all of the world who were watching from their TVs were hanging onto their every word.

"But Liv heard, and well, was slightly distraught—"

"Because you were being unreasonable—"

"Only a little," he said.

"But he apologized, like the gentleman that he is," she said.

"Yeah, I told her how lucky I would be to have her on our team. She _is_ Olivia Pope, after all," Fitz looked at Liv, and once again she got the feeling of them being the only two in the room. She smiled, remembering that day vividly.

"That's right," she said, breaking off their stare and turning back to Barbra for the next question.

"This is gold," said Cyrus to Abby, watching from the side.

"They way that they are finishing each other's sentences..." said Abby.

"Perfect," whispered Cyrus. "This is amazing, as long as they keep this up, everything will be perfect."

"This interview is going to be the most talked about one for years to come," said Abby. "This is history in the making. And all because these two are being so... In love with each other. Cyrus, this is..."

"Bigger than anything that we've ever dealt with," he agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

"So from the sounds of it your relationship got off a little shakily?" asked Barbra, with a smile.

"You could say that," said Fitz.

"How did it progress from there? How, Mr. President, did you find yourself falling for Ms. Pope despite all the, shall we say, odds?"

"Well, she agreed to the job after that first day, and we just started seeing each other all the time. I would tell her my ideas, what I was running on, the logistics of my platform, and she got my ideas out there, planned the events et cetera. She ran my campaign, and she did it well. We were an unstoppable team," Fitz said, turning to her. "We still are." Liv gave him a smile for the cameras to catch. "I can say honestly that I couldn't of won the election without her help. But it wasn't just her brilliance that had me falling for her. There were a lot of other brilliant people on my campaign. It was her confidence, she always knew that what she was doing was the right thing. It was the way she presented herself, Olivia Pope is _always_ on time and ready to go." Fitz laughed and continued on. "And… it was her beauty. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too. Olivia Pope is a wonderful person. I saw that the second I got to know her, and Barbra, I guess you could say that's why I fell for her." Olivia bowed her head, bashfully. The tears that had been threatening to fall the entire day started to fall. She wiped her eyes and looked back up.

"And I just want to say one more thing," continued Fitz. "What we did was completely and utterly wrong. My love for Olivia doesn't justify what we did at all. There is no excuse. Over the years of my presidency there have been many questions and many answers about many affairs. I have even admitted to an affair with another woman, because of the press of the situation. But the only woman I have ever had an affair with was Olivia. I want the American people to understand that. I'm truly sorry for all the lies and secrets kept. There is nothing I can do now but try to regain your trust again. And though that may never happen," Fitz turned to face the camera. "I'm going to live out the rest of my term doing the best I can to serve you as your President and putting my American people first. My marriage with my previous wife was messy and was long finished before Olivia came along. But that still doesn't make what we did right, in any way. I love Olivia, and that's why we started the affair, but my focus isn't going to be on her in these last few months, it is going to be on the American people. That I can guarantee. There have been a lot of questions raised about my relationship with Olivia, weather it is even legitimate. I can confirm that it is, but the focus of my job is not on her, but on you, and I'm sorry if other views have been put out there by the press. So I don't want there to be any awkwardness with this interview, Barbra. I love Olivia, and I love the American people, and those are what I can say for myself right now," Fitz concluded.

Cyrus looked at Abby. "That was good," he said.

"Yeah, but he's going to get criticism for it. It's not the press room. It's an interview with his girlfriend. People are going to think that he took advantage of the on-air time to talk about other issues," said Abby.

"Oh, Red, you worry to much. When it comes to these two, it's like spoon feeding a baby. The people gobble it up without actually paying attention to what is going into their mouths. They could care less that he had an affair, because they love Olivia. That stunt that she pulled with Karen? It was genius!"

"It wasn't a stunt. Liv actually wanted to be there for Karen," put in Abby.

"Well, stunt or not stunt, I don't care. They love her. Somehow, the American people fell in love with Olivia Pope and now they could care less what she says or does, because she is the genius yet badass chick that had an affair with our married President. They love her," Cyrus said.

Abby smiled. "That they do."

"Thank you, Mr. President, for those words." Barbra said, and paused for a silence. "And Ms. Pope—"

"Please, call me Olivia," she interrupted Barbra.

"Olivia then," Barbra said with a smile. "You've already given an interview where you told everyone how you fell for the President, and what that meant for you. Could you perhaps share your favorite memory or two with him?"

Olivia sighed on the inside, grateful for an easier question.

"Wow, um, that's hard," Olivia commented. She thought, until a genuine smile creeped on her face, remembering that one afternoon. "Well, there was this one time when we were having this giant fundraiser tennis match. Fitz had to play tennis with, like everybody, a bunch of other politicians were there too. So they were all playing and Fitz was winning almost all of his matches." Fitz laughed, remember.

"Almost? More like every single one," he put in. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"So the benefit was over, but Fitz was needed to be put in his place, because he was all excited about winning these tennis matches against these other guys. So I changed into some athletic clothes and we played." Olivia started grinning. "All of the guests had left, so it was just the campaign people watching, but we were a big group and _everybody_ crowded around and they all started placing bets on who would win. Well, I won right away."

"She absolutely butchered me. I lost that match so bad," Fitz said with a laugh, shaking his head.

"Yeah, so I just loved that day. We played tennis all afternoon—"

"Liv was winning every time, of course," Fitz put in.

"There are a lot of fun memories, so that might not be number one, but that was a really fun day. And I must admit that I did enjoy beating Fitz," she said, laughing along with Fitz and Barbra.

"It certainly sounds like the two of you know how to have fun," Barbra said.

"Yep, it's always a fun spending time with this one," Fitz said smiling, nudging Liv on the shoulder. They were still holding hands, and Olivia was doing everything she could to ignore the shocks being sent up her arm from it. Liv smiled.

"And it seems that you are not the only one filling up her schedule, only a couple of days ago the press caught you and Karen Grant on a girls day out. What was that like?" asked Barbra.

"I though you said only past events were being allowed as discussion topics for them?" hissed Abby to Cyrus.

"Yeah, well, I let this one fly," he said, absentmindedly.

But this question wasn't a problem for Olivia.

"Well, Karen and I hadn't ever had a chance to really talk about all that happened and get to know each other, so we went out to lunch, and had a really great time…"

—

 **FOURTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER (THE INTERVIEW ENDED)**

Olivia closed her eyes and sighed, the feeling of cool air on her face. She was leaning over the balcony off of Fitz's bedroom. She had left the interview, unnoticed, and instead of going home she went to the only place in the White House that she had every felt good in; the balcony. She leaned over the railing, closing her eyes. She ran her hand over her ring, twisting in on her ring finger.

Fitz walked into his bedroom, not noticing Olivia. He took off his jacket, and sat down his couch, running his hands through his hair.

Olivia heard him walk into the room, but did nothing.

With his jacket off, Fitz started to notice the breeze coming in. He turned around and saw the door open to his balcony.

"What the hell?" he muttered, getting up to close the door. "Who left this—" He stopped mid-sentence, seeing her back.

"Sorry. I just needed some air," Olivia said, not turning around and not opening her eyes.

"It's okay, I though that you had left. There was a car that went to your house…"

"Abby took it, she's been staying at my place," said Olivia.

"Oh, okay…" Fitz said, not really sure what to do.

"I'm not Mellie," Olivia said.

"What?" he said, caught off guard.

"You heard me. I'm not turning into your ex wife, am I? Cause that's exactly what this—"

"You are _not_ Mellie. You're Liv."

"You don't know that."

"I know you," he said simply.

"Sure you do," she muttered, still hanging on the balcony's railing, her eyes closed.

"I do. Your name is Olivia Pope. You are a crisis manager, a political fixer. You're _not_ a lawyer. You started your own firm, OPA. You're a genius. You have very few friends, only your associates and Abby. Your father was Command. You had an affair with the President of the United States yet America still loves you. You're talented, and smart. You trust your gut, and you love red wine. You're _not_ Mellie. Whatever falsities that you have in your mind are completely wrong. You're Liv, and that's the only person you'll ever be. That interview was completely true. Neither of us told lies, which was what my interviews with Mellie were centered around. You're not First Lady, that's not your speciality, and it was Mellie's. And I've always loved you, and never her." Fitz paused. "You're Olivia Pope. Don't start thinking, or acting, like you're not."

Olivia sighed, and tilted her head up, and stayed like that for a couple more seconds before opening her eyes and turning around. She took two steps forward and stopped, with about five feet in between each other. She finally focused her icy gaze on his blue eyes.

"Hi," she said finally.

"Hi," he said softly. There was a long silence.

"It wasn't that bad," the both said at the same time. That caused them both to smile.

"Thanks for doing that," he said.

"That's the second time you've said that to me today," Olivia said

"Oh, sorry," he grinned again. Olivia held in the smile that tried to burst out from within her at the sight of his happy face, the worry lines disappearing for a moment.

"You don't need to apologize. For anything," she said.

"So, uh, Abby's staying at your place?" he asked, trying for conversation. Olivia laughed at his efforts.

"Yeah, she was living with Leo… you know Leo Burgens."

"How could I forget?"

"Yeah, so they are going through a rough patch, I don't know, Abby is just staying with me. It's apparently really complicated." Olivia rolled her eyes. Fitz nodded, awkwardly. Olivia could tell that he didn't really care what was going on in Abby's life.

"I should go," Olivia said.

"You should go," he said nodding. "Abby's probably waiting for you," he said with a small smile.

Olivia sighed. She glanced up, willing the tears not to come.

"You okay?" he softly asked.

"I'm fine," she said hurriedly. "Bye Fitz," she said. She walked passed him, and he grabbed her hand as she did so.

"Fitz, I—" but she stopped as she looked at him, the hurt showing in his eyes.

"Okay," she whispered, walking into him. He wrapped his arms around her. In that moment, they both were channeling their pain, caused by one another, with each other. After one minute he let her go.

"Bye Liv," he said, letting go of her. She walked away.

"Liv?" he called. "Really, thank you for tonight."

"No," she said softly, turning around. "Thank you."

And she left.


	9. Chapter 9 Part 1

**THE NEXT DAY**

Olivia walked into to OPA to find Quinn and Huck speaking quietly in the corner of the conference room with each other in grave tones, and Marcus sitting at the table, scrolling through his phone. He looked up when she came in.

"Great, you're back! Interview was fantastic by the way, we all watched it," said Marcus. Olivia just stared at him. "Anyway, they're going to say other wise," Marcus said, motioning at Huck and Quinn who were still deep in conversation, "but we have a _bunch_ of potential clients on the phone, they've been calling all day. I prepared folders with the information we need to get started on each of the cases, there are four in total, you can take you pick…" Marcus trailed off.

"Why are they going to say otherwise?" Olivia asked, staring at him. Marcus looked down. "Why?" Olivia repeated her question.

"Ask them," muttered Marcus.

"Huck, Quinn!" The two looked over quickly. "Is there something I need to know?"

"We have a problem," said Huck.

"What kind of problem?"

"A B6-13 kind of problem," said Quinn. Olivia's eyes flared.

"What… kind of B6-13 problem?" she said in a stiff voice.

"Over the past 72 hours we have been keeping tabs on them," Huck explained.

"On who?"

"Well, Quinn stayed on Jake, Marcus was on Russell, and I was on your father."

"And?"

"And we didn't get much. They were together all the time, Jake and Russell. They would meet at your father's house constantly, though. But other than that, they did everything together. They spent most of their time at Rowan's house though, and every one and a while would leave to get food. Nobody else would go in or out. Your dad has not left his house in three days. I can't hack into their computers yet, but I did hack into all of Jake and Russell's bank accounts. Whatever they are doing, their not getting payed for it. As a B6-13 agent, we always got payed," said Huck.

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that whatever this is, it isn't B6-13. It's just the three of them, so far."

"What about Tom?" Olivia asked.

"Who?" said Marcus?

"Fitz—The President's former agent. He was the one who killed his son," Olivia said quickly, rushing over the subject. Quinn stepped on Marcus' foot, shutting him up.

"He hasn't been to the house. As far as we know, he hasn't been in contact with Rowan," said Quinn. Huck looked like he wanted to say something.

"What is it?" Olivia asked him.

"I think… that Rowan sent Tom somewhere. If Tom was running away from Command, he would have been dead by now, and we would of heard about it. I don't know what he is doing, but he's doing something for him."

Olivia sighed, putting her hands on her hips, thinking. After a while, she seemed to come to a conclusion. "Okay, okay. We take in _one_ of these clients, Marcus," she said, waving her hand over the folders. "You choose. We do this as a cover up. Behind the scenes, we continue to keep tabs on Rowan, Jake and Russell. And if Tom comes back, him too. I want to know what they are doing. And don't," Olivia said, looking from Huck to Quinn," do anything stupid. Don't go near any of them, don't try and contact any of them, and under all circumstances don't let them find out what we are dong, and hurt you. That's not happening, understand?"

The three nodded, although Olivia was really taking to Quinn and Huck.

"Okay then," she said. "Marcus get this new client on the phone."

"Actually, he just called and said that he was outside and coming up. right before you got here," said Marcus. Liv nodded, slightly taken aback.

"Okay. Who is he?"

"I've actually never seen him. He said his name was…" Marcus shuffled through his folders.

"Finch something… Stephen Finch. Does that ring a bell?" asked Marcus. Olivia, Quinn, and Huck all looked up in shock.

"I sure hope it would," said a sly voice with an unmistakable Scottish accent.

"No way," whispered Quinn, as Stephen walked into OPA with a wide grin on his face. Without missing a beat Olivia ran into his open arms. He laughed, giving her a bear hug. When he finally set her down she was grinning ear to ear.

"Wait she knows him?" asked Marcus. Quinn smirked. "You wish you knew him," she responded.

"Quinn! Or should I say Lindsey?" Quinn rolled her eyes. Abby had kept him informed, although he left right as Quinn was put in jail. "It's been too long," he said, kindness showing in his eyes.

"It has," she said with grin, as the two hugged.

"How have you been? Are you getting laid? I always thought that you needed to lighten up," he said. Quinn shoved him.

"Huck," Stephen said, the two men shaking hands.

"Stephen," he said, a small smile on his face.

"Abby's told me rumors. I never really took you for the killing type," Stephen said, grinning. The room fell into an awkward silence.

"Too soon?" he asked innocently.

Olivia patted him on the back, "Too soon."

"Ahh, you can tell me the story another time. Okay, well, who do we have here?" Stephen said with a clap of his hands.

"I'm Marcus, and you are…"

"Stephen Finch, only one of the _original_ members of Liv's fine establishment," he said with a flourish. Understanding came to Marcus, realizing that he used to work at OPA.

"Stephen, what are you doing here? Do you need help?" asked Liv, getting worried.

"Well, yesterday I woke up and realized that I had completely screwed my life over, hoped on the next plane to DC, and here I am, asking for my job back," he said.

"What?" said Liv, completely taken aback.

"If you'll have me, I would love more than anything to come back," Stephen said, softly. "I know leaving was horrible of me, and I regret it so much. I've missed out on a lot, even with Abby's occasional updates. Saving you from that auction, Liv, was the best I have felt about myself in years. I miss this. I miss you, I'm still a gladiator, Liv. Will you guys have me?" he asked. Olivia looked at Huck and Quinn, who in turn looked at each other and then back at her, all of them coming to an agreement.

"Of course we'll have you," said Liv with a smile. Stephen laughed a shaking laugh, grabbing Liv into a hug.

"To quote Abby, once a gladiator, always a gladiator," said Quinn

"Speak of the devil," Stephen said, shaking his head. "I want to go see her. I know that she works at the White House now… but you can get us in, can't you Liv?" said Stephen. Quinn furiously shook her head at Stephen, and Marcus made a cutting motion across his neck.

"What?" asked Stephen, not getting the full message. "Trouble in paradise?"

Liv snorted. "Paradise," she shook her head. Stephen gave Quinn a confused look. She continued shaking her head, and he understood that it was something that they didn't talk about.

"Well," he said tentatively, "We can still go to the White House, right?"

Liv rolled her eyes. "Yes," she muttered.


	10. Chapter 9 Part 2

**TWENTY SEVEN MINUTES LATER**

Stephen, Olivia, and Quinn walked into Abby's office in the White House. Huck and Marcus had stayed behind to meet with their real client.

"She's not here?" asked Stephen. Olivia walked over to Abby's desk and, knowing her passwords, logged into her computer and realized that Abby was in a meeting and that she was due to be finished one minute ago.

"She'll be here any minute," Liv said, sharing a look with Quinn. They both secretly wanted to see Abby's reaction to having Stephen back, and learning that he was going to be back for good.

Three minutes later the three of them were lounging in Abby's office catching up with Stephen when Olivia heard his voice, and felt her heart stir.

She stood up abruptly. "She's here."

The three stepped outside of Abby's office to see Cyrus, the President, and Abby in a conversation at the end of the hall walking their way.

Abandoning all morale, Stephen called out for everyone to hear, "Abs! We've been waiting for you. Where've you been?" The entire hallway fell silent, and the conversation that Abby, Cyrus, and Fitz were having quickly ended upon hearing Stephen's outburst.

Stephen opened his arms wide, a grin on his face.

Abby stared in shock, realizing immediately who was calling her.

Quinn waited next to Olivia, giddy, waiting for Abby's reaction.

Cyrus looked on, surprised to see Stephen.

Fitz stared at Olivia, not registering anyone else.

Olivia stared at Fitz, forgetting for a moment why she was at the White House, and also forgetting that there were other people besides her and him.

The two were drawn back to reality when Abby charged at Stephen, literally.

Abby ran down the long hallway, a smile starting to spread on her face, which turned into a bubbly laugh as she ran into Stephen's hug. He picked her up and spun her around.

Quinn and Olivia both laughed. She was deliberately not meeting Fitz's eye, as he and Cyrus progressed down the hall closer to Olivia's group. As Stephen spun Abby around, Olivia and Fitz were reminded of the night of the election when Fitz did the same to Olivia upon hearing about his election.

Olivia didn't want to meet his eyes, for thinking of the memory had already hurt her too much.

Fitz however continued to stare straight at her, which Quinn and Cyrus noted, though neither said anything.

After Stephen and Abby's long hug ended, Stephen set her down and they stared at each other.

"I'm back Abs. At OPA. For good," he said. Abby was taken aback, and then, regaining herself, she immediately started punching him in the gut.

"Ow—" Stephen doubled over. "Abby… Ouch, Jesus Christ, Abby!" he cried. Olivia and Quinn both started laughing again.

"You—COMPLETE—bastard… showing up here—thinking…. with—out—even—calling?!" she said between punches.

"I wanted to call, Abs, I did. But I figured getting on a plane would be a grander gesture," he said, smiling. She finally stopped hitting him.

"I'm here now," he said weakly.

"You're here now," she agreed. The two smiled at each other.

"All right, come on, I'm treating you three to lunch," Stephen said, grabbing onto Abby and Quinn's hands. He looked back at Olivia, who had finally met Fitz's eyes. They were having a conversation with their eyes, neither of them muttering a word. Quinn and Abby shared a look, while Stephen looked confused, unsure where their relationship was. He read the news, watched the interviews, heard the gossip, but was still unsure as he hadn't formally discussed it with Olivia.

Olivia seemed to have won her battle, for she said. "Great, Abby's coming too. Her schedule is actually free for the rest of the day," said Olivia, curtly, still glaring Fitz down.

"Okay, great," Abby said hurriedly, wanting to get out of the awkward situation. Quinn, on the other hand, was enjoying this immensely.

"Mr. President, it's super rude of Olivia, she didn't introduce you to our friend here," Quinn said, taking Stephen's hand. It was Quinn's turn for Olivia to glare at her. Quinn was more comfortable with the President because of current events, and he had started calling Quinn by her first name, though she still insisted on calling him 'Mr. President.'

"Mr. President, it's an honor," said Stephen, holding out his hand. Fitz shook it.

"It's a pleasure, Mr…"

"Finch, sir. Stephen Finch. I worked for Liv back in the day, and I took a little, ah, hiatus, but I'm back now," he said with a smile.

"It's really nice to meet you. I hope Liv isn't too hard on you," he said with a playful smile. Stephen immediately loosened up, starting to like Fitz. He could see why a man like him could capture the heart of Olivia Pope. This softer side of him was something he hadn't seen much. He also saw the way that the two looked at each other, too.

"Well, we have to go," said Olivia, turning to Stephen and throwing him her car keys. "Go grab my car from the garage, I'll be right behind you, I just have to grab my bag from Abby's office."

Stephen, Quinn, and Abby went down to the garage, as the rest of the staffers including Cyrus went back into their own offices. Only Fitz and Olivia were out. Olivia gave Fitz a stern look before walking into Abby's office. He came in behind her, shutting the door.

"I'm glad you have him back," he said softly.

"So am I. I've missed him. The last time I saw Stephen…" she froze, remembering.

"Was when he rescued you. I remember."

Olivia looked down, and then turned around to face him.

"Fitz…" she started. He waited. "Somebody is trying to kill Rowan, and I know that he will do everything in his large amount of power to stop that from happening. He will take any measure, cross any line…" she paused. "He'd kill me if that meant saving his own skin."

"Liv, you're not dying," said Fitz.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying he's after me, but he'll do anything to protect his own skin. He knows that the only reason I let him out was for you and me, so he can twist anything in his mind, tell himself that it is payback… I'm fine. I was just telling you. And I shouldn't of. But my people and I, we're on him. I'll tell Abby about any cause for concern. I just wanted to let you know.

"I wasn't saying it as a fact," he said.

"What?"

"I'm not saying that you are most definitely not going to die, I'm telling you, that I can't have you die. I'm asking you, please don't get your self killed."

Olivia looked down. He crossed the room and stood right in front of her. They hadn't been this close in ages. She could smell his sent, and was trying very hard not to think of inappropriate thoughts, of kissing him, of running her hands through his hair…

She let out the smallest gasp when she felt his hand connect with her chin, the electricity shooting through the two of them at the touch. He brought her face up, their eyes meeting.

Fitz stared into her doe-like brown eyes, never ceasing to be amazed at her beauty. Watching her laugh at the sight of Stephen surprising Abby, hearing that sound brought him back to life. He loved her so much, he loved her hair, her eyes, her smile, her laugh, her legs, her neck, her nose, her everything.

Olivia stared into his gorgeous, icy-blue eyes, trying not to get lost in them.

"Livvie," he said softly. "Livvie, I'v already lost you. But having a wold that exists without you? I can't… You _cannot_ die. This world will fall into chaos without Olivia Pope. I'm not the only one that needs you," he said.

 _But you're the only one that I need,_ she wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut.

"I'm not going to die. I would never give my father that satisfaction," she said, breaking their connection. She felt her body slowly shut down without his touch, but she picked up her bag and continued out the door. She stopped at the doorframe, and turned around to say, "And you haven't lost me. Stop being so dramatic. I'll never be lost to you, and I'll never loose you," and she left quickly, refusing to let him see the tears in her eyes.

 **Hey cutie pies! I haven't formally introduced myself, I though now would be a good time! I'm shootingstarzblr, and this is my first fic. I love love love writing it, and I love even more your reviews, it means so much to hear your opinions! You guys are the best :)**

 **I just wanted to let you know that I plan on this having an Olitz endgame, so stick with it. I promise in the next chapters we will get more of our faves interacting with each other.**

 **I know that most of you hate Mellie and Joke, and I most certainly agree on the Joke part (he is literal trash) although I don't totally despise Mellie, which is why I'm not going to put her in the worst light in this story. She still is a mother underneath it all, and I'm really going to explore that aspect of her. I will literally rip Joke to pieces in this story though, I hate him so much omg.**

 **But I will mostly focus on OPA (Stephen returning, yay!), Abby and Olivia's relationship, and of course Olitz!**

 **I love all of you and will try to update as soon as I can!**

 **Thanks for everything, keep posting reviews.**

 **Till next time,**

 **xoxo**


	11. Chapter 10

"So, Liv, how's it going?" asked Stephen from the back of the car. The two along with Quinn and Abby were driving in Olivia's SVU to go get lunch and have more time to catch up before Quinn, Stephen, and Olivia had to get back to the office. Quinn had claimed shotgun, Olivia was at the wheel, and Stephen and Abby were sitting very close next to each other in the back of the car.

"Excuse me?" she responded.

"All you have asked about is me. My past few years have been dull and boring, consisting of a bad job and a messy divorce. But a lot, I mean, _a_ _lot_ has happened to you while I've been gone. I heard bare minimal from Abby, and recently… well, you've changed, Liv."

Olivia laughed. "I don't know if I've changed that much. I've been through hell and back, we all have, but I feel like the same person."

"Okay, when I left you Quinn turned out to be Lindsey, there was a scandal brewing up about a rigged election, and I was the only one that knew about you and the President. Now—"

"Wait, you knew?" cried Abby.

"I mean, she never told me, but I got the sense." Abby and Quinn stared at him blankly. "Okay, come on. Abby, you saw how going on that campaign trail completely changed her."

"Okay, but I just assumed that they were friends," said Abby. The two seemed to have forgotten that Olivia was still in the car.

"Oh come on, nobody is _that_ happy when they're not getting laid. Besides, he was a Republican and Liv still completely supported him."

"He's not _really_ a Republican. He's more apolitical. Half of his stances lean towards the Democratic side—"

"I could just tell, okay!" protested Stephen.

Liv finally slammed onto the breaks and pulled into a parking space.

"We're done discussing him," she said through gritted teeth.

"Liv, what the hell happened? You rigged the election, the President was shot, they thought Huck did it. Your father and mother suddenly appeared back in your life, you ran away, the President's kid died, _Harrison died,_ you were kidnapped… And now this? You and him _admitting_ to the affair? That's a changed person, Olivia, and you can't tell me otherwise."

Olivia sighed, coming to a decision to answer his questions. "It's all centered around my relationship with him," she said. Abby and Quinn shared a look, surprised that Stephen got to her. "We wouldn't of had to rig that election if I had ran his election better. And I would of, but I caught his flaws to late, because in that state, to me, he had none. He got shot by the man that conducted the election rigging, and Huck is caught up with my father who is caught up with my mother, who is the reason that Harrison and his son are dead. It all leads back to the trail."

"And the trail leads back to the President," Stephen concluded.

"All roads lead back to Fitz," she mumbled.

"What?" he asked, not hearing her properly.

"Nothing. Look, you're right. A lot has happened. And maybe I have changed. But I'm still the same on the outside. I'm still Olivia Pope, OPA still exists, and we have a steady stream of clients and income. I still have my gladiators. So I like to think that I haven't changed. We're not going to talk about Fitz unless we are talking about Abby's job. I'm extremely happy that you're back, Stephen." Liv turned around in the seat to face him, the four still sitting in the car in their parking space. "But I don't walk to talk about him. You can get you're information from Quinn and Abby, they can fill you in on the past. Got it?"

"Got it," the three said.

"Okay then," Liv said, stepping out of her car, her three-inch healed, knee-high boots hitting the ground. She wasn't dressed in work attire, instead more comfortable clothing.

"I'll explain everything later," whispered Abby to Stephen, before following Liv out of the car. Quinn nodded, giving him a smile, the two also shutting their doors. Olivia locked the car, and the four walked over the restaurant, Liv grateful that no photographers had followed.

"Gettysburger is still here!" cried Stephen, happily. The three laughed, excited for a normal lunch.

—

 **TWO HOURS LATER**

"Well, I should probably get back to the office," Abby said sadly.

"Come on, Abs. You're cleared for the day, Liv said so. Wanna come gladiate for a day?" asked Stephen, a boyish grin on his face. Abby looked at Liv questioningly.

"Come on," Olivia said, laughing, the four getting onto the elevator. When they got to the conference room, they found Marcus sitting at the conference table, looking bored, watching Huck and Jake Ballard, who had guns pointed at each other.

"What the hell?" asked Quinn.

"He wouldn't leave, so Huck felt the need to forcibly remove him. But they both had guns so…" Marcus gestured, lazily. "It's been like this for the past twenty-seven minutes."

Abby and Olivia shared a look.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Stephen.

"That's _Jake,_ " said Abby. It was clear that he was one of the items that Abby had already informed Stephen about.

The confusion on Stephen's face went away, replaced with a calm look. "Ohhh, you're Jake." Stephen laughed, and walked around him and Huck, circling like a predator searching after his prey. "I don't like you very much."

"Who are you?" Jake asked, dropping his gaze from Huck for a moment.

"I'm so sorry, how very rude of me. My name is Stephen Finch, I work here," Stephen said, a fake smile plastered to his face. He stuck out his hand. Jake ignored it, not putting his gun down.

"You're Stephen?" Jake asked, recognizing the name from Quinn or Huck mentioning him.

"At your service," he said.

"I though you moved."

"I'm back. Permanently, for that matter," the fake smile still on his face.

Jake eyed Stephen suspiciously, turning to face Olivia. She stared back at him, a cold look on her face.

"Liv, I need to talk to you," he said, his voice dropping into softer tones. Before Olivia could respond, Stephen jumped in.

"I'm so sorry, mate, but I don't know if you realized that Olivia Pope is very popular. OPA has a high demand of clients 24/7, and because of that I'm afraid that _I'll_ be the one talking to you about your case. From the looks of it, it won't be to high up on the list, thus not requiring Ms. Pope's attention."

A look of annoyance crossed Jake's face. "Liv," he said through gritted teeth, "I need to speak to _you._ "

"You heard Stephen," she said, giving him a cold look.

"Liv, come on. It's me. Jake? Does that ring a bell? I just need to talk, Livvie," he protested. Olivia's head whipped up at the sound of that nickname.

When she next spoke, it was barley audible. "What… did you just say?"

"I need to talk to you," he repeated.

"No, what did you just _call_ me?"

"Livvie?"

"Get out," Olivia said, still whispering.

"Olivia—"

"I said get out!" she yelled. Abby and Quinn shared a worried glance.

"I'm not leaving until I speak with you," he said with a sigh.

"Get out! Get out, get out, get OUT!" Olivia yelled. Abby grabbed her friend by the waist to constrain her from throwing the nearest object at Jake. "If you have ever loved me, ever felt anything for me, if you love or care for my _father,_ then you need to leave. Please, just get out and never come back!" Olivia gasped, surprised at her sudden outburst. She looked confused for a moment, but regained herself, and turned her back on the group, who were just as shocked, and went into her office, slamming the door behind her.

Huck, using Jake's shocked state to an advantage, knocked the gun out of Jake's hand, and Stephen quickly retrieved it from the floor, the both now pointing guns at his head. Jake reluctantly walked out, and the two went downstairs to make sure that he had exited the building.

When Huck and Stephen came back, Liv was out of her office, talking with Quinn, Abby, and Marcus about OPA's next client. They shared glances, surprised at Olivia's sudden change in attitude. She went on about their business as if Jake had never been there. Stephen and Huck shrugged, and went along with it.

 **Hey ya'll! I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update, and also that Fitz wasn't in this chapter. I've been super busy with school, etc. so it took me a longer time. I will try to update ASAP in the future! I really had to tie up loose ends with Jake, and reintroduce the Stephen to the firm. I also played with the idea of Abby returning to OPA, although I don't know for sure if I'll have her do it.**

 **I promise next time that we'll have a lot of Fitz (and some Karen and Teddy for that matter).**

 **Please, please, please, keep posting reviews, your opinions and ideas mean so much to me.**

 **Thanks so much, I love you guys!**


	12. Chapter 11

**THE NEXT DAY**

 _"_ _Karen, I want to talk to you about something. It's important, and I'd very much appreciate it if we could talk about it before I make my decision and also headlines."_

Karen Grant sat on her bed, replaying her mother's message over and over. She had already responded with a curt 'yes,' and was expecting Mellie any minute. Karen didn't know for the life of her what her mom was talking about, and it was setting her on edge.

Just then a security guard popped his head into her room.

"Miss Grant? Your mom is here," he said. Karen nodded, getting up and smoothing her skirt down. Ever since transferring schools to a private one in D.C., Karen was wearing a different uniform, and was still getting used to the shorter skirt than the one she had at boarding school.

"Okay, thanks," she said in a whisper. She followed the security guard into one of the White House's many rooms, where her mom was playing with Teddy, excited to see her son. The security guard cleared his throat, and Mellie looked up quickly, a smile spreading across her face.

"Karen," she said, warmly. "How is the new school? The uniform looks good."

"It's good," Karen stated. Mellie stared at her, waiting for more. Karen sighed. "Okay, I really really like it. The kids are super chill, because most of them have politicians for parents, so they get it," Karen said truthfully. Mellie smiled, genuinely happy that her daughter had found a better place.

"It's so good to have you in the city. I'm really glad that you're back," her mom said. Karen just nodded, taking a seat on the couch across from her.

"Well," said Mellie, suddenly getting nervous. "I wanted to… well there is currently eleven months left of your father's term, and most of the candidates running for the election are announcing that they are in the running around now…"

"Okay…" Karen said, still not really understanding where her mother was going with this.

"Look, I know that you hated this place in the beginning, but you've moved back, you're going to school here… I won't do it, if you really despise this place so much, but—"

"Hold up, wait, wait a second…" Karen interrupted, the pieces starting to fall into place. "Are you saying that you want to run for President of the United States?"

A silence that answered Karen's question filled the room.

Karen gasped.

"If you don't want me to, it's okay, I understand. But it's something that I've been working towards, even your father knows, it's why I ran for senate. And I know that I'm a junior senator, but I have a chance…"

"What are you saying?" asked Karen.

"I'm saying that… If I ran there is a very good chance that I could win. That's—that's what I'm saying."

Karen sat back, letting it soak in. After a couple of minutes of thinking she made a decision, one that made her bite back a smile.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, you can run. I want you to run, you _should_ run." Mellie grinned, happy that her daughter approved approved of her life's dream.

"Really?"

"On one condition," continued Karen.

"Name it," her mother said.

Karen looked her mother in the eyes and said, "I want Olivia to run your campaign."

—

 **TWO HOURS LATER**

"So let me get this straight," said Stephen, chopsticks in his hands. "This Jake, Joke, whatever, works for your father, who has someone trying to kill him? And your father is trying to start B6-13 up again?"

The five of them were sitting around the conference table, eating takeout. Quinn had skillfully filled Stephen on anything that Abby had missed (he was staying in her apartment) and was now learning about the recent events surrounding Liv's father.

"That's what it looks like," Liv responded.

Stephen chuckled, running a hand through his hair. Liv rolled her eyes, about to respond when the office phone rang. Olivia checked her watch. It was 15 minutes to 7:00 PM, a weird time for clients to call. She shrugged, and picked up the phone.

"This is Olivia Pope speaking. Can I help you?"

"Liv?"

Olivia's eyebrows went up in shock, immediately recognizing the voice.

"Mellie. Do you need something?"

"Yes, I do. In about 15 minutes I am going to announce my run for the presidency and I need you to agree to run my campaign before I do that."

"What?" cried Olivia, shock registering across her face. Her four associates stat up, wondering immediately what had caused Olivia's outburst.

"Look, I know this is short notice, but—"

"SHORT—short notice?" asked Olivia, lowering her voice. " _Short notice?_ Mellie, I can't…"

"Yes, you can, Liv. You've done it before and you can do it again."

"I am not referring to the fact that I have run campaigns!" she cried. "I am referring to the fact that you cannot announce you running without having a campaign manger!"

"But I do have one… If you say yes."

"Mellie! There is literally—" Olivia checked her watch. "13 minutes before you announce this! You cannot possibly think that now is a good time to ask about this."

"It was Karen's idea."

"What?"

"Karen agreed to me running as long as you were my manger. And at the end of the day, I would of asked you weather or not she wanted me to. You're the best Liv. Everyone knows it. I'm surprised that you're not working for any of the other candidates yet."

"I've declined all of them, because I don't want to go back into that! The trail, with Fitz—"

"Was the best thing that you've ever done, and you can't tell me otherwise."

"This is different!"

"How? I want to run, Olivia. And you and I both know what a good chance there is of me winning, even after announcing my running later than other candidates. With you by my side, I'll win Liv. It's a given. Look, I know that the trail the second time around was messy, but in the beginning, eight years ago…"

"It was amazing," Liv said in a whisper.

"This isn't the second time around, Liv. It's the first. and it will be just as amazing. You know it."

Olivia sighed.

"Liv?"

"I'm thinking!" she hissed.

"I hate to rush you, but we are kind of running out of time…"

"And whose fault is that?" Olivia said, shutting Mellie up. Olivia made eye contact with Huck, who gave her a questioning look, wondering what her answer would be, having picked up on their conversation.

"I'll do it, but I need to tell him."

"Okay, okay, oh my God, Liv, thank you so much. Okay, that's fine, we'll let him know—"

"No, you prep for the interview, I'm calling him and telling him. I should… I'm the one that needs to tell him," Olivia said, dreading her next phone call.

"Okay, Liv… thank you."

"I know," Olivia said, hanging up. She turned towards her people, who were all staring up at her questionably.

"Over a cliff?" she said, weakly.

"What did you just do?" asked Quinn.

"I just agreed to run Mellie's campaign. Jesus… I need to call Abby… then Cyrus… then Fitz… I need…"

Oliva paused.

"Okay, Stephen, call Abby and tell her to gather the entire press corps and to turn every single TV in the White House on to Mellie's interview. Quinn, call Cyrus. Marcus start making arrangements for us to meet with Mellie first thing tomorrow. Huck, do your thing. Start advertising right away. Go!" Olivia commanded. The four pulled out phones and laptops, and began. Olivia then took out her cell and called Fitz's secretary, walking into her office.

"Charlotte? Hi, it's Olivia Pope… Yes… No, I really need to speak with him. I don't have time to speak with him in person… I have ten minutes… Charlotte—Okay. Okay thanks so much…" Olivia waited for her to be put on with Fitz.

"Liv? Livvie? Are you okay?"

Olivia caught her breath, scared about what she had to say next.

"Turn on your TV."

"What? I'm in the middle of a briefing."

"Turn your TV on to BNC and keep it on for the next ten minutes."

"Okay…" Olivia heard Fitz mumble directions to one of his staff members before he got back on the phone.

"Olivia, it's just normal news."

"In three minutes it won't be." Olivia said, softly.

"What? What's happening at seven? Are you okay?" he repeated, worried.

"I'm fine, I… I just agreed to…" Olivia swallowed. Two minutes.

"Just, I randomly agreed to doing something for this certain politician, and… well, I'm going ahead with it no matter what you say, but you… you deserve to hear it from me."

"Deserve to hear what?" Fitz asked, getting very worried. One minute.

"It was last minute, literally I got off the phone with her a couple of minutes ago… Fitz, I'm running Mellie's campaign for President of the United States. She's announcing it right now. And, Fitz… If I run this thing…"

"Mellie is going to win," Fitz said in whisper, shock radiating throughout his body.

"I'm sorry, but I ran yours so…"

"You don't owe her anything."

"But I do," sobbed Olivia. "I owe her. We owe her this. Which is why you need to not only be okay with this, but you need to announce that Mellie Grant is the woman that you hope wins the presidency. Except that first thing I'm doing is dropping the Grant last name. So, yeah, we owe her. And it's time to pay our debts."

"Liv…"

"I'm not going to argue about this with you. It's happening—"

Olivia stopped mid sentence when Mellie's smiling face popped onto the screen. Olivia hung up, and the rest of her team looked up, Stephen picking up the remote and turing the volume up.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your news at 7, but I promise that we will get right back to it after I give my short announcement," began Mellie. Olivia stood up straighter, ready.

"I am here to formally announce that I will be running for President of the United States. I know that my announcement is later than the other candidates, but after consultation with my daughter and close friends, we together have decided that now is the best time for me to run. And leading my charge will be the best of the best, Olivia Pope." The second those words came out of her mouth the office phones started going off. All five of them ignored the ringing.

"So, I am running, because I believe that America needs something, and I am that something. I will be visiting your state soon, so please go to my website to find dates. Mellie for President 2016!" she said, smiling. The clip cut, and then returned to the normal news.

The five stat still.

"What did I just do?" muttered Olivia.


	13. Chapter 12

_"_ _We can't do that."_

 _"_ _Why? It makes perfect sense. The guys being blackmailed, so I'll take care of it. He stays governor of Illinois end of story."_

 _"_ _Quinn, you know why I can't let you do that."_

 _"_ _Liv, nobody has to know, not Governor Rauner, not his wife, not even Huck. Definitely not Huck."_

 _"_ _Huck would find out. And it would open doors, doors that cannot be reopened or he won't be able to close them."_

 _"_ _Liv, I know what I'm doing."_

 _"_ _I know. That's why I don't want you to do it."_

 _Quinn stared at Olivia, who had made her decision. Quinn sighed in agreement._

 _"_ _Okay, now I need you too—" But she broke off at the sight of the White House bedroom door opening. Fitz walked in, his face lighting up at the sight of Olivia. Quinn, who was sitting on the couch facing Fitz's back, went unnoticed._

 _"_ _Hi," she said with a smile._

 _"_ _Hi," he replied, walking over and giving her a small kiss. Quinn smiled to herself._

 _After a second, Olivia broke it off. "You haven't introduced yourself yet to Quinn," she said with raised eyebrows, not at all bashful of her PDA in front of Quinn._

 _Fitz turned around quickly. "Oh! Sorry. Yeah, I've guess we've never had a formal introduction. I'm… well you can call me Fitz. And you're Quinn… wait don't tell me…" Olivia rolled her eyes at Fitz's attempt to remember Quinn's last name. Fitz chuckled._

 _"_ _No, I know it! It's… starts with a 'p'… Perkins? Perkins! That's it!" Fitz had a grin on his face, and both Liv and Quinn looked surprised that he had managed to remember._

 _"_ _You can call me Quinn. But I'll stick with Mr. President for now," Quinn said with a smile. She paused awkwardly. "Okay, well, Liv, I have everything I need, so I'll call you if anything else comes up," Quinn said, wanting to let them be alone._

 _"_ _Oh, you can stay if you and Olivia still have work. Just pretend that I'm not here. Liv does it all the time," Fitz said. Olivia shoved him. Quinn laughed, immediately liking him._

 _"_ _No, it's okay, I have plans… my boyfriend is taking me out to dinner," Quinn said truthfully, not really sure what Charlie was to her, if not her boyfriend._

 _"_ _Well then don't let us stop you. Have an amazing evening, and, Quinn?" Fitz looked at her when she turned around. "It was really nice to meet you. I can see why Liv cares about you so much," he said. Quinn blushed, and left with a smile, closing the door behind her._

 _As soon as she left Olivia threw a pillow from his bed at Fitz. "What was that for?" he asked with a laugh, tackling her._

 _Olivia immediately burst out laughing, as Fitz continued to tickle her. "Stop! You're… so… fake… S—Stop!" she said between laughs. Fitz finally stopped to hear Olivia's response._

 _"_ _Stop being so nice to my people. I won't allow them to be your friends."_

 _"_ _I was just being nice! Besides, I don't think that they want to be friends with me in the first place."_

 _"_ _You're friends with Abby."_

 _"_ _Because she works for me!" said Fitz. Olivia grinned._

 _"_ _I know. Just… don't be so nice."_

 _"_ _It's not my fault that I'm naturally charming." Olivia rolled her eyes, trying not to get lost in Fitz's blue eyes, which were staring at her with a look of complete admiration. She was lying on her back and he was hovering over her with a stupid grin on his face. God did Olivia love him._

 _"_ _You wish," she whispered. Fitz rolled off of her and sat in one of the chairs across the room, pretending to be hurt. Olivia immediately missed the feeling of his body pressed up against hers, and walked over and sat in his lap._

 _"_ _I'll prove to you that I'm charming," he said, rising his head on top of hers and wrapping his arms around her small frame._

 _"_ _Yeah, how?" Olivia said with a smile._

 _"_ _I'm taking you on a date. Stay here tonight, in the White House. You can go back home tomorrow. Tonight we're going to a place that has never been explored before… the kitchens!" he said with an attempted dramatic voice. Olivia laughed, and turned around, wrapping her legs around his waist in order to face him._

 _"_ _That sounds right up my alley."_

 _"_ _Okay then, let's go."_

 _"_ _Now?"_

 _"_ _Right now," he said, picking Liv up in his arms. She laughed, and he set her down, opting to hold her hand instead._

 _This is going to be one hell of a nigh, Olivia thought to herself, grinning._

 **END OF FLASHBACK**

—

Olivia jolted awake, and then sighed, wishing that her dream had continued. She missed being with him openly, them wandering the White House at night. She got up and took an advil, her head pounding at the thought of being Mellie's campaign manager.

"You can quit whenever you want to," she told herself, seriously considering it. She got dressed, and was about to leave when Abby stormed into her house.

"What the fucking hell?!" she yelled, slamming the door behind her. Olivia sighed, ready for Abby's comments.

"Do you think this is a game, Liv? No, like I'm seriously wondering. Because you just fucking agreed to run MELLIE GRANT'S campaign. Are you high? Are you stupid? Is… oh my God," Abby said lowering her voice. "Is someone blackmailing you?"

"No!"

"No?! Then why the hell did you do this? You're delusional! This isn't a fucking game, Olivia! This is the real world. What was going through your head?"

"I owe her, Abby."

"No, no! You owe her nothing. Mellie likes to play games and oh man does she win every time. And she has hit the mother load this time. Olivia fucking Pope!"

"Abby—"

"YOU DON'T OWE HER! You and him both have this insane idea that you owe her one, but Mellie doesn't give a rats ass, and never has for that matter, about your relationship with him. They stopped loving each other _long_ before you came in the picture. _You're_ the reason she got into the freaking White House in the first place! And now you're going to be getting her in there for the second time… Jesus, Olivia. You need to shut this down while you still can. Because Mellie can run the world without you two getting mixed up in this again. If there's one thing you should of learned is that the White House is not a place for Olivia Pope, not these days at least." Abby let out a breath. Olivia ran her hands through her hair, and sat down on her couch.

"You think I should shut it down?"

"I _know_ that you should shut it down. Find someone else. This isn't your problem to fix. Not this time. Focus on OPA. You don't want to get into this mess again. You did it last time as a favor to Cyrus, look where that got you."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

Olivia paused, thinking.

"You're not sleeping here anymore," she stated.

"I'm not," Abby said.

"So you and Leo made up?"

Abby looked at Olivia, confused. "Yeah. We did. I guess when you love someone, you always find your way back to each other."

Olivia ignored the last comment, clearly aimed at her. "Okay. I'm not shutting it down. I'm restarting it. Call Leo."

"What? Why?"

"Because he's my replacement. I'm not running her campaign. I don't know why I thought I should in the first place. Tell Mellie, and bring Leo with. I have a case," Olivia said, picking her bag up.

"Liv?" Olivia turned, about to head out.

"You made the right choice."

"I know I did," Olivia said, smiling, and shutting the door behind her.

—

 **FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER**

"You're not running her campaign anymore?" Fitz's voice filed Olivia's bluetooth in her black SUV.

"Nope. Leo Burgens is my replacement. I called in a favor with Abby."

"So they are back together?"

"Yeah."

"So she's not staying with you anymore?"

"No."

"Oh."

There was a pause.

"Okay, well, I'm going to hang up now. I'm about to pull into the office."

"Liv, wait. I don't know why you did what you did, but not running Mellie's campaign is the right idea. Abby was right."

"How do you know it was Abby who convinced me?"

"Because she's the only one that you'll listen to."

Olivia stayed silent.

"Well, Cyrus was praying on this outcome, so he's become suddenly very much more religious."

Olivia had to laugh.

"I think that the White House will explode before Cy will be caught dead at church."

"These days the White House exploding doesn't seem to bad of an idea."

"Bye, Fitz," Olivia said, smiling.

"Bye, Livvie," he said, softly.

 **Hey guys! Lol, y'all REALLY didn't like that last chapter. I was never planning on Liv going through with running Mellie's campaign anyways, so I'm glad we agree on that part.**

 **Based off of your reviews, I'm very much wondering how well Scandal is going to do if Shonda really follows through with Olivia running Mellie's campaign for President. Lol. This next season is going to be rough.**

 **Thanks for all your reviews, sorry that you hated the last chapter!**


	14. Chapter 13

_"The stairs? Seriously, Liv?"_

 _Fitz and Olivia were standing, hand and hand, choosing weather to take the elevator or the stairs down to the White House kitchens._

 _Liv laughed. "We're taking the stairs. Look," Olivia pulled her five-inch heals off and handed them to Fitz, who took them with a roll of his eyes. "Now no one will have any chance at all of falling."_

 _"But look at this beautiful elevator! The kitchens are three flights down, might I remind you."_

 _"Come on, it's more fun," Olivia said, letting go of his hand and starting down the stairs. She paused at the third step down. "Coming?" she asked seductively with a wink. Fitz sighed, and followed her down._

 _Once they had reached the third floor down, they went through two double doors down a long hallway, until they reached the largest cooking space Olivia had ever seen._

 _"Holy shit, Fitz! This is huge." He chuckled, leading her to one of the refrigerators. He had already asked all the staff to clear the place out, so it was just the two of them. "What should I make for us?"_

 _"You? Cooking? That's funny."_

 _"Not as funny as you cooking, Ms. Wine and Popcorn," Fitz shot back. "Besides, I'm actually good at cooking. I took a culinary class in college."_

 _"No, you didn't," Olivia said with a wide grin on her face._

 _"Sure did. Now, what do you want to eat? I could do… spaghetti?"_

 _"Chic, Fitz," Olivia said with a laugh._

 _"Chic is my middle name."_

 _"Oh, I know it," Liv said. The two chuckled as Fitz started chopping up tomatoes._

 _"I'm going to find wine," Liv called, opening doors at random, searching for the wine cellar._

 _"Seventh one down on the right," called Fitz. Olivia shook her head, amazed at the size of the place. After she had selected the perfect red, she made her way back towards Fitz, who was finished with the tomatoes and had gotten out two glasses and an opener. She hoisted herself up onto the counter, and watched him cut and stir and boil, loving the way his eyes stayed focus the entire time._

 _Once he had finished, and everything was cooking or boiling, he stood in front of her, their heads level due to the fact that Liv was sitting on the counter. They stared into each other's eyes before Liv broke the silence._

 _"You know that was kind of hot, right? Do you cook for all the girls you bring home?"_

 _"Only the special ones," he said with a grin._

 _"I guess that makes me lucky."_

 _"I would have to say that I'm the lucky one here," Fitz said. Olivia opened her legs wider and he stood between them. She set her wine glass down and gently placed her hands around his neck, drawing their foreheads together._

 _"Hi," she breathed._

 _"Hi," he whispered. She could smell him, a smokey, cologne-y scent that had her wanting more._

 _"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"_

 _"Tell me again," she said, a small smile playing at her lips._

 _"You're beautiful," he leaned in closer, their lips about to meet. "And I love you," he breathed into her mouth. Just as their lips landed on each other, Fitz jolted back. "And the pasta is going to overcook. Shit!"_

 _Olivia laughed, watching him fumble to find off switch for the stove._

 _"Baby, look down. It's right in front of you," she said. Fitz sighed, turning it off, and pulled the pot out of the one that was holding the water, draining the pasta. Olivia giggled, and stuck a finger into the sauce. She hopped off the counter, and stroked his nose, creating a red streak. Fitz scowled._

 _"It's okay. I'll clean up your mess," she whispered, licking the sauce off of his nose. She proceeded to kiss his nose and all over his face, the two laughing at her attempt to intensify things._

 _"Okay… eat first, make out later," Fitz said, kissing her forehead._

 _Olivia's mouth pulled into a pout, as she sat back on the counter top. Fitz laughed, coming back in between her legs. Before she knew it his lips were on hers. She responded immediately, running her hands through his hair and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. Soon, her tongue was in his mouth, and one of his hands was playing at the hem of her t-shirt. Olivia finally pulled away, both taking a breath._

 _"Okay, eat now," she said happily. Fitz laughed._

 _"Come on, I know where I want us to eat."_

 _He grabbed a container, throwing the pasta and sauce into it, and the bottle of wine, and led her by the hand to a new mysterious location._

 **END OF FLASHBACK**

—

 **TWO WEEKS LATER**

Olivia jolted back to reality after hearing Quinn's voice resinate throughout OPA.

"The devil is calling again!" Quinn yelled throughout the office.

"Quinn! What did I say about calling her that?" scolded Olivia, seeing the caller ID being Mellie's.

Quinn ignored Olivia's comment. "Should I pick up?"

"No, just let it ring," Olivia called, not wanting to deal with the former FLOTUS at the moment. Olivia sighed, running her hands through her hair.

"Okay, people, we have a case!" yelled Olivia, as Quinn came out, followed by Marcus, and then finally Huck and Stephen.

"Congresswoman Polson called a couple of minutes ago, something about her daughter missing, so we're going over to her house. Huck, while we're in the car find out everything you can. Her name is Kayla Polson. Everybody, grab your stuff, we're taking my car."

They all got their stuff, Huck bringing a bag full of equipment, Quinn taking her laptop, Marcus with the cameras and gloves, and Stephen just picking up his briefcase. The four met Olivia in her SUV, Quinn naturally taking shotgun while Marcus and Stephen took the two middle row seats, and Huck dominated the back row.

Stephen leaned forward and turned the radio on and immediately him, Marcus, and Quinn started fighting about which station to listen to until they finally agreed on listening to a pop station, just for the fun of it.

The entire time Olivia was rolling her eyes with a smile on her eyes as they got onto the highway, and Huck was hacking away at his computer.

Olivia, Quinn, and Stephen were all wearing sunglasses, and Stephen was loudly singing along to Justin Bieber, which caused Quinn and Olivia to burst out laughing the second the song came on and Stephen knew the lyrics.

They were cruising along the I-395, and all five of them felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. With Stephen's return things felt very… normal, a word that hadn't been used in any of their vocabulary in too long of a time.

"Okay, I hacked into Kayla's Instagram and Facebook. She doesn't have a Twitter. I also can get into her brothers' if needed. She has three older brothers, the oldest is 18, two twins that are 16, and then she is 14," called Huck, and Stephen immediately stopped in the middle of singing _Where are Ü Now_ to listen.

"Okay, what did you find?" called Olivia from the wheel.

"Well, I don't know when she first went missing, but she hasn't been on either for 47 hours, and this is normal for her Instagram, but weird for her Facebook, because she normally is posting or liking things on that almost every hour. And—" but Huck stopped mid sentence, finding something.

"What is it?" asked Marcus.

"It's… the oldest brother. His name is Josh. As of one month ago he's Karen Grant's boyfriend. They all go to the same school as her."

 _Of fucking course_ Olivia thought to herself.

"Okay, well after we meet with the parents and brothers we can assess and see if we need to talk to Karen," sighed Liv.

"I think we will need to talk to her, regardless. From the looks of this Kayla seriously looks up to Karen, even though they have only been close for less than a month. Tons of posts, she's always tagging her in stuff… even her profiles on Facebook and Instagram resemble Karen's… Whenever Karen posts something, Kayla does… Weird," Huck said.

"What?" asked Stephen, Quinn, and Olivia at the same time.

"It's like Kayla wants to be just like Karen. Ever since Karen started dating Josh… Kayla started dressing the same as Karen, shopping at the same stores, she even got more piercings on her ears to match the amount that Karen has. This is kind of creepy. She's… obsessed."

Olivia and Quinn shared a worried glance.

"Okay, well we're going to be at their house in two minutes so we can find out more…" Olivia was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. Mellie, for like the fifth time that day. She sighed, and hung up. But a couple of seconds later her phone rang again, from Mellie. Olivia's brow furrowed. Why was Mellie calling her so much? Olivia reluctantly picked up, as Mellie's voice immediately filled the bluetooth in her car.

"Olivia, thank God you picked up. I need your help," Mellie cried in a frantic voice.

"Mellie, I'm sorry… I really can't do your campaign," Olivia said.

"No, no that's not it at all—" but just then another call came through Olivia's phone.

"Give me one minute, Mellie, I'm getting another call…" Olivia put Mellie on hold, and all of a sudden the President's voice filled the car.

"Liv? It's Karen, she's missing," Fitz's worried voice said.

"What?" the five of them cried.

"Jesus…" muttered Olivia.

"Liv? God, I'm sorry, but I need your help… she didn't come home after school yesterday, and I thought that maybe she was at her friends house, but it's been almost 40 hours… I don't even know where to begin looking," he said, pain in his voice.

"We do," said Quinn.

"Quinn? Where are you guys," said Fitz, taken aback.

"Yeah, Karen's boyfriend's younger sister just went missing too. They are probably linked. We're driving over to Congresswoman Polson's house right now," explained Olivia.

"Josh's younger sister? Kayla is missing? Yeah, they must be linked. Whenever Josh was over, so was Kayla. She was always following Karen around… cute kid. Liv…"

"I'm on it, Fitz. I'll find her, and I'll end up finding Kayla with her. I can already tell. I'll call you with more information, okay?"

"Should I come over to Sarah's house?"

"Congresswoman's? I don't know… I'll call you, okay? Things are that bad yet. I'm sure they won't be. Just Karen and Kayla having a girls weekend."

"Okay, thanks Liv,"

"Yeah," she said, hanging up.

The five were silent for a moment.

"Huck?" Liv said in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We all are," said Marcus.

"I'm sorry, what are we all thinking?"

"That Kayla kidnapped Karen," predicted Stephen.

"What? _Why_ are we thinking that?"

"It all adds up. The dressing alike, the obsession… Fitz even said that Kayla would be over when Josh was. Kayla didn't want to be like Karen… she wanted to _be_ Karen," said Liv.

"So Kayla kidnapped Karen," finished Quinn.

"What about the boyfriend, Josh? I bet he didn't like his little sister imposing on his time with his girlfriend…" started Stephen.

"… and Karen would of just thought that it was cute. Of course! It all makes since," Liv said, pulling into a parking space. The five hurriedly got out of the car, and rang the bell at the Polsen's mansion.

The door was immediately opened by a pretty, but worried looking blonde woman.

"Sarah," said Liv, pulling her into a hug.

"Liv, I'm so sorry for making you come all the way down here… It's just that it's my Kayla… I can't loose her too," the woman said, referring to the recent death of her husband, due to cancer. Mrs. Polson kindly said hello to Olivia's associates, all while bringing them into their large sitting room.

"Sarah, we may already have an idea about what happened to your daughter."

"You know where my baby is?"

"Who she's with," said Liv, shooting Huck a worried glance.

"What?"

"Before we say anything, I'd really like to speak with your son, Josh."

"Joshie? He doesn't have anything to do with this, does he?" the frazzled woman ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "He and Kayla never got along…"

"Because she's an annoying little brat who doesn't have anything to do with her life but piss me off me," said a voice. Olivia turned around, and could immediately tell that the boy descending the stairs was Josh. The tall boy was very handsome, with blue eyes, dusty blonde hair, and his mother's strong jaw line.

"Josh, I'm—"

"Olivia Pope, sure, Kare has told me all about you," he said, a genuine smile lighting up his face.

"Good, then you know what I do."

"Yeah, your job sounds amazing. And I hear that you're the best at," he said, the handsome, boyish grin still on his face.

"That's very kind of you to say. But, Josh, I need you to tell me something. Have you spoken to Karen the last couple of days?"

"Karen?" asked the congresswoman, confused as to what Josh's girlfriend had to do with anything.

"No, actually," said Josh, his brow furrowing. "I was just about to call her. We normally text each other every day, but I haven't heard from her at all today," he explained. "Wait…" he said, starting to put things together. "Is she okay?"

"Josh… her parents both just called me. They haven't heard from her in 40 hours. Kayla has been missing for almost 48… they might be linked."

"She did it," whispered Josh.

"Didn't quite catch that, mate," said Stephen.

"It was Kayla," said Josh.

"What? Josh? What are you talking about?" the Congresswoman said.

"Kayla took Karen! She was always worshiping her, always wanted to be just like her… Shit! I should of seen this coming! I always thought it was weird how Kayla followed Kare around like a lost puppy, and then recently she started acting… different," said Josh.

"Different how?" pushed Olivia.

"It doesn't matter! All that matters is that my sister kidnapped my girlfriend, and that I'm going to fucking kill her if she hurts Karen in any way," Josh yelled.


	15. Chapter 14

_"I want to go to Vermont," Olivia stated boldly._

 _Fitz turned his gaze down to the top of her head, as her face was buried in his chest. The couple was sitting on one of the many roofs of the White House, wrapped in a blanket with empty wine glasses by their sides._

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Yes. But I feel like… I want to wait until your term is over. But then I want to go up there and paint some walls and open some windows and…"_

 _"Tune the piano?" he asked with a smile._

 _"Tune the piano," Liv agreed with a laugh._

 _"I want that too," Fitz said._

 _"It will make us more real. We have all these fantasies of living in Vermont, and you're not going to be Mayor and I have no intention of making jam, but…"_

 _"We have a big empty house."_

 _"And we can go up there on weekends, and I don't know."_

 _"Fill the house with kids," he suggested._

 _"When we're ready."_

 _Olivia turned her body so she could look at him in the eyes. They were the most shockingly blue eyes, and she couldn't help but hope that if they ever had kids that they would get his eyes. Olivia brought her hands up from around his waist to around his neck and ran her hands through his brown locks._

 _He gave her a small grin, trying to read her mind._

 _"What?" he questioned._

 _"Nothing…I…"_

 _He cocked his head to the side, giving her a look._

 _"I just… I'm happy. That's all," she said._

 _"If you're happy then I'm ecstatic. That's all I want, remember?" he asked, bringing her hand with the ring on it, the gold band on her pointer finger sitting simply and beautifully._

 _"I know. And how could I ever forget the guy who gave me a ring called 'Sweet Baby?' Some guy like that, well, he's a keeper. Wish that I could find one of those around here," she said grinning._

 _"I might know a guy," said Fitz with a smile._

 _"Now that I think about it, I think I might know one too," she whispered, sliding her hands back into his hair and pressing her lips against his. Their kisses were soft and light, and not at all rushed._

 _"Tell me how again you figured out that we can eat on the roof of the White House?"_

 _"Well, Gerry had found it originally. And we're technically not supposed to be here. You should probably keep this on the down low."_

 _"I'll try my best," she said, turning around and settling comfortably in his lap, resting the back of her head against his chest._

 _"I wish we could see the stars better," he said._

 _"We can see all the stars we want in Vermont," she commented._

 _"That's true. But I can live without stars, you know. As long as I have you, I don't need anything else," he whispered, kissing the top of her head._

 _Olivia smiled._

 **END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

 **THIRTY MINUTES LATER**

"I'm sorry, has anyone talked to Karen's secret service? Where the hell were they when this went down?" said Quinn.

Fitz sighed, and ran his hands through his curly hair. "She was going to a friends house, so Karen drove in the car with her. The secret service followed, and then waited outside the house all night. In the morning her friend woke up and Karen was gone. The secret service saw nothing. I don't… I can't begin to understand how the hell this happened," he whispered.

Olivia, Quinn, Huck, Stephen, and Marcus were all sitting on a couch in Congresswomen Polson's house.

Fitz sat with Abby next to him on the couch across, and the Congresswomen and her three sons opted to stand. Huck was hacking away on his computer, Marcus was taking notes, and Stephen, Quinn, and Olivia were listening.

"So her friend woke up and Karen was missing, she ran and told her parents who checked with the Secret Service… long story short she's gone. And a mere eight hours earlier Kayla Polson mysteriously doesn't show up for school, and doesn't come home later that day?" summarizes Stephen.

"What are you saying?" asked the Congresswoman.

"I'm saying that your son might be right. I'm not accusing your daughter of anything, but we're pretty sure that the two must be linked," he explained.

"Do you have any leads on either of them?"

Quinn, Olivia, Stephen, Marcus, Abby, and Fitz all turned to Huck.

"Well, I'm getting no signal from Karen's phone, it must be dead, and Kayla left her phone and laptop here. I'll need more information before I can look into anything else," Huck explained.

"Josh, was there any place that Kayla went with Karen a lot, maybe somewhere to eat or stay?"

Josh looked up, thinking.

"Well, a couple of weeks ago Karen and I crashed at this really nice hotel, and Kayla came randomly in the morning and she and Karen ended up having lunch together there. It was called the Red Roof hotel, I think. It's right downtown. Does that help at all?"

Olivia turned to Huck, who immediately started typing on his computer again. After a few seconds, it pinged.

Huck pointed at the screen.

"Liv?" Fitz asked.

Before she could respond the doorbell rang.

"We'll get it, ma'm," said the secret service to Mrs. Polson.

After a few moments of talking they came back with Leo Burgens.

"Leo? What are you doing here?" asked Abby, getting up.

"Senator Grant sent me. She is being addressed by the press right now, but wanted to know what was going on."

"You could of just called," said Abby.

"She wanted me to come in person. Besides, I haven't seen you in two days. You look… tired," he said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Olivia laughed at Stephen's shocked look.

"We can talk later," said Abby, blushing.

"Sorry, don't believe we've met," said Stephen, stepping in between Leo and Abby.

"Oh, I'm Leo, Leo Burgens," he said, a bit taken off guard.

"Stephen Finch, pleasure," he said with an extended hand. Leo shook it kindly.

"So if I may ask, what business do you have here?" Leo said.

"I work for Olivia," Stephen said proudly.

"Oh, didn't realize that you were taking on _another_ newbie. You going into charity, Liv?" Leo said, looking over Stephen's shoulder.

"Actually, Stephen worked for me a long time ago. He only recently moved back," she said.

"Oh, so you and Abby know each other?" asked Leo cautiously.

"Abs? Oh, she and I go _way_ back. We were some of the original OPA members together," Stephen said casually. Olivia, Huck, and Quinn all shared a knowing look.

"Cool! It's funny, she never mentioned you," Leo said. Quinn laughed, but turned it into a cough when Marcus glared at her.

"We've kept in touch, yet she never mentioned you," Stephen shot back.

"Abby just isn't that much of a talker about her past, I guess. Likes to stay in the present."

"Oh, I haven't really gotten that impression from—"

"Okay, well seeing as that we have _much_ more important matters on hand, we're going to move on," said Marcus, stepping in between the two men.

"Liv? What do you want to do?" asked Congresswomen Polson.

"Sarah, I'm going to have you and your sons on standby. Thanks so much for letting us come. Some of my people are going to interview Josh further. Stephen and Marcus, actually. Quinn, I need you and Huck tracking Karen and Kayla, okay? We just got intel that they were at the Red Roof Hotel two hours ago."

The four of them went off, Stephen and Marcus with Josh, and Quinn and Huck retreated to the van to drive to the hotel.

"Sarah, I will have my people notify you as soon as possible if we get something, okay?"

"Thank you, Liv, thanks to all of you. And Mr. President, I am so sorry about this mess," she said, holding the door open for Fitz, Olivia, Abby, and Leo.

"It most certainly isn't your fault. I'm sure that everything will work out," Fitz said in a stiff voice.

* * *

 **THREE MINUTES LATER — OUTSIDE THE CONGRESSWOMEN'S HOUSE**

"Leo, I assume that Abby has filled you in? Okay, great. You can fill in Senator Grant on everything," said Olivia.

"Yeah, not so much," said Leo.

"Excuse me?"

"No, I mean, I'll tell her and stuff. But she's not Senator Grant anymore. She's changing her last name back to her maiden name. I don't actually know what that is, but…" the three turned expectantly to her ex-husband.

"Well don't ask me!" said Fitz defensively. "I have no idea what it is," he said.

Abby rolled her eyes. "Come on, Leo, I'll drive you." The couple left, and it was just Olivia and Fitz left sitting on a bench in the park across the street from the house. The secret service were standing around the bench, holding off the cameras. The two ignored everything, and their voices didn't carry so nothing they said was being heard.

"You seriously don't know Mellie's maiden name?" asked Olivia.

Fitz chuckled. "It's bad right? She practically changed her name the day we met. Well, her father did for that matter. It was so arranged." Fitz shook his head.

Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry, it's just really bad that you don't know Mellie's last name," she said.

Fitz grinned. "I _know_ it, I just don't exactly remember it at this moment in time."

"Yeah, okay," Liv said with a role of her eyes.

"I'm good at remembering other stuff! Like I knew all of your associates names and _last_ names."

"Well you just know everything, now don't you," she said, grinning.

"Everything about you, that's for sure," he commented softly.

They fell into an awkward silence.

"Liv?"

"I'll find her, Fitz. I promise. I… I care about her. I _will_ find Karen."

"I know. You're the best."

Olivia turned to face him, offering an open hand. He gently placed his larger palm in hers. She laid her head on his shoulder, fitting perfectly into the nook in his neck. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulder.

In that minute, on a random park bench in D.C. with paparazzi around them flashing their cameras, they were peaceful.


	16. Chapter 15

**FOUR HOURS LATER**

"Have you seen this?" yelled Abby, slamming two magazines and a newspaper down on Olivia's desk.

"Don't you have a job?" sighed Olivia. "You know, at the White House? What are you doing here?"

"I don't mind that you're here," said Stephen, grinning.

"I do, we have a case," said Quinn.

"Yeah, one that concerns your boss's daughter," added Marcus.

"You really shouldn't be—" started Huck.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Abby screamed, causing there to be an abrupt silence in Olivia's office.

"Liv, you are not allowed to screw him again! Not right now, at least," she said through gritted teeth.

"Abby!" Olivia said in a scolding tone.

"It's the truth," she said.

"Fitz and I are _not_ together. Why are we talking about this?"

"Because," she said pointing at the magazines, which showed the two sitting on the bench together that morning. "New boy, turn on the TV," she called. Marcus grudgingly turned it on, where the woman anchor was talking about Olivia and Fitz, and the pictures taken that morning of them on the bench in the park.

"So? Isn't this what you guys want? Just because we're sitting on a bench together does not mean we're sharing a bed," said Liv. The rest of OPA cast their eyes downward and exited the room, but Abby just rolled hers and stood tall.

"Well you could of mentioned it! Because you two? Sleeping together is not something that you need to be doing right now. He's _finally_ getting back to normal after that fiasco that you two pulled at Christmas so I don't need you two messing each other up again. I just got worried… I didn't need that happening again. You two mess each other up. Or make each other better... What were you doing, anyways?" she said without taking a breath.

"His daughter is missing," Liv said nonchalantly.

Abby raised her eyebrows.

"We're _friends,_ Abby. Is it that bad?"

"Yes! You can't be friends with him! He doesn't have friends! He has Cyrus, who is his work wife, and he has me to be his work wife when Cyrus is being his shady self, and he _had_ you. Here that? _Had._ Past tense, Liv! You're done with him! You guys? Finished. Don't go opening up doors again!"

"I'm not opening up doors! I'm just… getting over him," she mumbled.

"Oh my—Olivia! You are either with him or not. There is no in between! You won't be able to keep this up much longer, and you and I both know it. You are going to have to choose."

"What if I don't want to choose! What if I just want to be friends?"

"You have to choose! You _have_ to, Liv. I'm sorry."

"Abby, I don't want to talk about this. I have a case. Go back to work," Olivia sighed.

"Olivia—"

"I'll call you tonight, okay."

Abby left with a worried look.

* * *

 **AFTER ABBY LEAVES**

"Do we have anything?" called Olivia from her office.

"Well, when Quinn and I went to check the hotel we figured out that Kayla had booked a room, and that a girl that matched Karen's description was staying with her. The guy working there said that Karen came in alone with nothing on her super early in the morning, and that she stayed with Kayla for two nights. But Kayla checked out very early this morning, and nobody actually saw Karen leave, just that they assumed that she left with Kayla because neither of them are still at the hotel. So she must have gone around the back while Kayla checked out, or something like that. Huck and I should be receiving the security footage…" Quinn checked her watch. "Actually any minute now… any updates?" she questioned, turning to Huck.

"I'm getting it right now, hold on, its loading… got it," he said, as Olivia, Quinn, Marcus, and Stephen crowed around Hucks laptop.

The first set of footage was of the front lobby, a couple of days ago showing Kayla checking in at 9:30 in the morning. Huck skipped through until 4:30 in the morning the next day when Karen walked in.

"What the hell?" muttered Marcus.

"Huck, zoom in. Can we get audio?" asked Olivia.

Huck pressed some buttons and soon they could hear the conversation Karen was having with the desk manager at that hour.

"… Kayla Polson? No, see, she called me, I'm a friend."

"I'm sorry, ma'm, but I can't just let you in—"

"Please, just call her room. She needs to see me," Karen said urgently. The man sighed, and dialed some numbers, and spoke in a muffled tone.

After a moment he turned around and faced Karen. "She said you can go on up." Karen ran to the elevator.

Huck cut the clip forward to early that morning at 6:00 when Kayla was seen checking out.

"And that's the last that they saw of her outside of the room," said Quinn. "I asked around, and Kayla got the hotel room because it was in her mother's name and on the Congresswoman's card. They said that Kayla was constantly charging room service, and that she even got outside deliveries to the room. But I _also_ heard that it was Karen opening the door. They never saw Kayla, not until she checked out."

"So Karen's there on her own will," said Stephen.

"Not necessarily. She just might not be tied and gagged to a chair," said Liv, with a furrowed brow. "Huck, any idea what these packages could contain?"

"Yeah, actually. I check Kayla's room back home, and she's been taking a ton of different types of pills for months."

"She's getting high?" asked Marcus.

"No, they are medically prescribed. I figured out where her doctor was, and I talked to the hospital," he explained.

"What did you figure out?"

"I think… Kayla is transgender," he said.

"What?" Olivia, Stephen, and Marcus said in synch

"That's what all the pills were for. And she's been going to the doctor for months where they have been talking surgeries," explained Quinn.

"How could her mother of not known about this? Kayla is fourteen years old!" exclaimed Liv.

"It's actually quite common. Kayla has just been faking her mom's signature on all of the documents, and because these procedures are so personal she has been using the excuse of her mom not accepting who she is, and thus explaining why her mom has not been coming to the appointments. The doctors still technically can go through with it, and from what I understand the entire hospital is buying it. Her mom has so much money, and because this has only been happening for the past two months there hasn't been so much money taken out of her account that has caused her mom to notice. So the packages being delivered to Kayla's hotel room were her treatments. I was able to then track the packages, and they just checked into a new hotel just outside the city, and a package was just delivered. What do you want to do?"

Olivia ran her hands through her hair, shocked with the new information. "Let's go," she said finally. "The next time we speak to the parents I want to have both of the daughters safe at home, okay? Let's go people!"

* * *

 **FOURTY-SEVEN MINUTES LATER**

"I wouldn't really call this a hotel, more like a…"

"Shack," finished Stephen for Marcus. The five stood in front of a motel in the middle of nowhere, with a flickering sign advertising free bait on Tuesdays.

"Yeah," Quinn said in agreement. "Good thing I brought my gun," she said.

"I brought mine too, and we all know that Huck has one on him," commented Stephen.

"You guys have guns? I want a gun!" said Marcus.

"No, no! Everybody stop. We're not using our guns. Marcus, never get a gun. God, you all sound like Abby. Let's go," hissed Olivia. The five walked up to the door number four, and Quinn knocked. There was a scuffling, and then no response.

"Karen? Are you in there?" called out Stephen.

Silence.

Olivia sighed. "Karen, it's Olivia. You can hide out in there as long as you want, but… oh, there. I just called you, and…" A distinct ringing was heard from inside the room. "See now I am either going to break down this door or you can open it because I _know_ that you are in there."

The locked clicked, and a nervous Karen opened the door. "Liv?" she whispered, taking in the sight of the five of them.

"Karen, it's okay, we're not here to arrest you, it's just that—" but Olivia stopped short when Karen ran into her arms. She was taken aback as this seventeen year old girl crushed her, but let her guard down for the first time in months and wrapped her arms around her.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. Everything is going to be okay."

"I missed you," Karen whispered.

Quinn and Huck shared a look, completely taken aback by Olivia's actions.

Olivia finally pulled away. "Karen, is Kayla here too?"

"She's in the bathroom. But, Olivia, don't go in there… she's…"

"It's okay, we know whats been going on with her. I'm going to walk you to the car, and then we'll go get Kayla," Olivia said, guiding Karen to the backseat of her SUV. But when Olivia tried to go away, Karen grabbed her hand.

"Just stay with me, please," she said. Olivia nodded, and wrapped an arm around the teenage girl who laid her head gently on Olivia's chest.

"Thank you for coming to get me," she said.

"Well, if I hadn't your dad would of hired the FBI and your mom would of busted down that door yourself. You're lucky I intervened," Olivia said, smiling.

"Liv, I'm serious. I know you pick and choose your cases. And I also know that you know that my dad could of hired somebody, and you wouldn't of had to get involved. But you did, and it means a lot. So, thanks," she said.

"Anytime, Karen. Will you tell my why you ran away with Kayla? What's going on with you two? I know that she is going through some really tough stuff, but Karen… everybody was so worried."

"It was so stupid, I know. I was sleeping over at my friends house, and she called. I already knew that she was… well, a he. But Kayla called me, and was freaking out. I don't know, her— _his—_ treatments were finally kicking in, Kayla was on a high, the drugs were making him act insane… I don't know. Kayla kind of latched on to me. I felt like I needed to be there. I'm sorry, I should of called, but she, I mean he, didn't want her mom to know. I guess everybody will now, though," Karen said.

"Karen, just because you are dating her older brother doesn't mean you have to rush to her, I mean his, beckon call. I get it. You have a friend who is going through this huge gigantic thing and you want to take some of the load off. But sometimes you have to carry the burden alone. Kayla is becoming who he really is. Let him do that alone, find himself by himself. That's the best that you could do," Olivia said.

Karen sighed. "I'm so tired. I heaven't slept in days. That—what you just said makes since. I should take to you more often, you know," Karen said.

"Yeah, next time call me before you decide to run away with your next transgender friend," Olivia said, laughing.

Olivia's four associates returned with a disheveled looking person, who was clearly in-between the stages. She silently sat in the back next to Karen, who gave her a smile but stayed in Olivia's embrace. Quinn knowingly took the wheel, Stephen claimed shotgun, and Huck and Marcus spoke in subdued tones in the middle row. They drove to the White House silently, a calmness in the air. The stars were out, as it was ten at night, and Karen fell asleep in Olivia's arms.

* * *

 **THIRTY NINE MINUTES LATER**

Abby yawned and stretched, and sighed, realizing that it was already 10:41 at night. She needed to go home. Just as she was about to start packing up, her phone rang.

"Quinn?" she asked.

"Yeah, hi, it's me," Quinn said in a whisper.

"Are you okay? Why are you whispering? Is Olivia okay?"

"Yeah, we're all good. We are outside of the White House, Karen and Olivia are sleeping so—"

"You found Karen?"

"Yeah, and her friend too. I'll explain everything later. Just notify the President that we are coming up."

"Okay," Abby said, hanging up and rushing out of the room.

* * *

Fitz ran down the halls and nearly crashed into Quinn, calling a 'sorry' and kept going until he reached Karen's room where he stopped short.

Karen was fast asleep in Olivia's arms, who was also deep in a slumber. Karen was wrapped in Olivia's embrace, who had her chin on top of Karen's. The two looked peaceful in their sleep.

After recovering from his initial shock, Fitz grinned, knowing that he would always remember this moment. He pulled the cover over the two of them, and gently eased Olivia's heals off, although she was so asleep that she didn't stir.

He sat down in the big chair in Karen's room and fell sleep as well.


	17. Chapter 16

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Olivia woke to the feeling of Teddy Grant on her face. Literally. He was crawling all over her, screaming her name; "Lib! Lib!"

"Teddy?" she mumbled confusedly, forgetting where she was.

"Ugghhhh," moaned Karen, who to Olivia's shock was in her arms. Then the previous days events all came back.

"Lib! You are here! Get up!" Teddy cried. Olivia groggily sat up, and couldn't help but grin; she hadn't seen Teddy in months and he was getting even cuter.

"Hi Teddy!" she said.

"Ugghh go away," Karen sighed.

"What time is it? Do you have a clock in here? Shit! I have work!" realized Olivia.

"Hey, language," a voice said. Olivia turned quickly to see Fitz curled up in one of Karen's chairs. She realized that he must have slept in the room.

"Dad?" Karen said, nervously.

"Don't worry, I've heard the whole story. Kayla has been safely delivered back to her family where they will be going through some extensive therapy. Olivia, Quinn called and said that she would be coming in late. All of your people crashed at her place, along with Abby if you want to go see them," Fitz explained.

"Nooooo!" wailed Teddy. "Lib _just_ got here! She can't go!" Teddy wrapped his arms around Olivia's neck.

"Teddy stop screaming," said Karen. The little boy stuck out his tongue at his older sister. She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Teddy. I'll eat breakfast with you, how about that?" asked Olivia, tying her hair back into a ponytail and fully sitting up. The little boy clapped his hands wildly and grinned a toothy smile, clearly pleased with the compromise.

"Okay, I'll let you two talk," she said, picking up the little boy and giving Karen a wink. She and Fitz made brief eye-contact, giving each other awkward smiles before Olivia and Teddy left the room.

* * *

"What do you want to eat?" she asked Teddy, who was sitting comfortably in her arms. She was walking down the hall of the White House.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging.

"Okay, well, I'm going to change, I think I left some of my clothes here from last time…" she said, walking into to Fitz's room. She made sure not to spend a lot of time in case memories came back, so she just went into the closet and found the first article of clothing that was her's that she could find. Olivia came out in jeans and a comfortable t-shirt that had _Georgetown_ written on the front. She grabbed Teddy's hand.

"Up!" he cried, holding his hands up in the air. She shook her head, smiling, and once again Teddy was in her arms.

"Do you know what you want now?" she asked. He shrugged again, still grinning, as the pair took the elevator down to the kitchens.

Olivia never ceased to be amazed by the size, and briefly remembered the night Fitz and her had spent down there. She pushed the thoughts aside, and said hi to the Chef.

"We're just going to make some breakfast, if you don't mind," she explained.

"Oh of course! We've missed you. I'm sure that will make Teddy happy," the Chef said with a warm smile.

"How about I make you french toast. I know that always has been your favorite," she said, setting him on the counter and poking him in the stomach.

The little boy giggled, and nodded his head. Olivia got out the bread and eggs, and started whipping the breakfast together.

* * *

 **UPSTAIRS**

"Karen, I'm sure your mother is going to want to have your turn at bitching at you, and because I don't want to make you go through that twice I'll wait till she gets here," Fitz said.

Karen sighed. "Dad, Liv has already told me what a bad idea it was—"

"I know you want her to be, but Olivia isn't your mom. Yes, I agree with her that it was a bad idea, but you can't only listen to Liv. You have parents who, you know, have to _discipline_ you?"

"Yeah, and what a great job you've been doing at that," muttered Karen.

"What?"

"Never mind, forget it. We'll wait till mom gets here—"

"No say, it," said Fitz. "I want you hear you say it. Because that's your excuse right? Your parenting? Say it."

"Dad, I don't—"

"Say it!" cried Fitz.

"You were a bad father!" yelled Karen, throwing her hands up in the air. "You were horrible. Complete and utter shit. From birth it was politics, always the job, running for governor, running for President, running for the second term. And now mom is running, and she'll probably win, God knows she'll find her way into this fucking place again. But Gerry was all I had. And then he died because of your stupid job, and I…" Karen ran her hands through her hair, distraught. "Ger was all I had," she whispered. "And maybe sometimes when we were at our worst we had you guys, but then I caught mom screwing Uncle Andrew, and then it comes out that you were having an affair with Olivia Pope, who was the _only_ person on your team that would ever even sit down and have a conversation with me, so she was out too. I have no one left. Teddy—and don't try and lie about this— was conceived to make it look like you weren't having an affair. America's fucking baby, remember? Oh yeah, pardon my language. I didn't mean to offend the President. I don't—I don't have an excuse for what I did. I ran away. I left you. But the thing is, you left me too. And Gerry left me, and I don't even know why. How did he die, dad? It wasn't just a coincidence. I don't have anything left anymore. I have no reason to fight. I just… I'm done, dad. I needed to get out. I thought that coming back here was a good thing, and I appreciate you making an effort, but you shouldn't have to in the first place. It should just be a normal thing. You, ya know, being a dad. And I love Liv, she's the only sane one here, but you messed her up bad. You and mom. This whole place is corrupt."

There was a pause. Then, "Eli Pope," came out of Fitz's mouth.

"What?"

"Liv's dad. His name was Eli Pope. He killed Gerry. Well, he had one of his agents do it. Tom, our ex-security guard, actually. Eli Pope runs a secret spy organization that I, the President of the United States, shouldn't even know about. You don't want to know the things he's done. I didn't mess Liv up. Her dad did, and then because of that I got messed up. That's why Gerry died. I'm sorry Karen. For everything. I'll never be able to fix it, but… and you're right, Teddy wouldn't be here if it were't for my alleged affair, but that doesn't make me love him any less, and neither should you. He's the only brother you have."

"Don't remind me," whispered Karen. "Liv's _dad_?" she barely got the words out.

Fitz gave a cold laugh. "You think you have daddy problems?"

"You knew this entire time, you didn't put him in jail… or have him put to _death_ for what he did? YOU KNEW AND—"

"I didn't know. None of us. Not Liv, not me, not your mother, no one, not until a while after. And even when we did… a guy who runs a spy agency that is able to kill the President's son in a blink of an eye isn't that easy to catch. And we did, but… he got out. I think sharing time is over for today. You wanted to be close to me, Karen? I wanted you to, too. And I know I've been horrible, but it's so that you don't have to know these things. So that you can go to sleep at night without having nightmares. I'm sorry," he said, softly. "I did what I could to protect you and Gerry. I did—" his voice broke. "I did what I could."


End file.
